MANUALS  OF  CATHOLIC  THEOLOGY. 


.OUTLINES 


OF 


DOGMATIC    THEOLOGY. 


SYLVESTER    JOSEPH    HUNTER, 

// 

OF   THE   SOCIETY   OF   JESUS. 


VOLUME  L 


THIRD    EDITION. 


NEW  YORK,  CINCINNATI,  CHICAGO: 

BENZIGER     BROTHERS, 

Printers  to  the  Holy  Afostolic  Set. 


Hlbtl  Obstat: 

JOANNES  CLAYTON,  S.J., 

^•nr/i.  Prof. 
Die  /aid  14  1894. 


3mpr  (maiut  . 

HERBERT  CARD.  VAUGHAN, 

Archiep.  Wtstmonast. 
Die  Julii  13,  1894. 


PREFACE 

THE  writer  of  this  work  proposes  to  present  111 
three  volumes,  in  English,  an  outline  of  a  three- 
year  course  of  Dogmatic  Theology,  such  as  is 
offered  to  students  for  the  priesthood  in  Catholic 
Seminaries.  No  attempt  is  made  to  give  more 
than  the  merest  outline ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  it 
will  satisfy  the  needs  of  some  who  are  not  pro- 
fessional students,  especially  by  showing  the  nature 
of  the  questions  dealt  with  in  each  Treatise,  and 
their  proportionate  importance,  as  indicated  by  the 
space  allowed  to  them. 

Originality  would  be  out  of  place  in  a  work  of 
this  description:  the  matter  is  the  common  pro- 
perty of  theologians.  The  admirable  Compendium 
of  Father  Hurter  is  followed  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  Treatises. 

The  aim  of  the  work  is  Exposition,  not  Contro- 
versy, although  controversial  matter  is  occasionally 
introduced  by  way  of  illustration.  The  writer 
believes  that  if  both  parties  to  a  controversy  will 


PREFACE. 

give  a  clear  exposition  of  what  they  hold  upon  the 
subject,  the  questions  between  them  will  quickly 
be  brought  to  a  decision. 

In  the  Appendix  to  this  volume  will  be  found 
a  sketch  of  the  method  of  disputation  commonly 
followed  in  schools  of  philosophy  and  theology,  by 
which  the  class  are  practised  in  the  art  of  stating 
objections  clearly  and  answering  them  concisely. 

No  attempt  is  made  to  give  special  prominence 
to  questions  that  are  attracting  public  attention  at 
the  time  of  writing.  It  is  hoped  that  the  principles 
here  given  will  enable  the  reader  to  follow  intelli- 
gently the  course  of  any  theological  discussion  in 
which  he  may  be  interested,  and  to  realize  how 
closely  the  various  parts  of  theology  are  linked 
together ;  so  that  no  question  can  be  considered 
as  standing  by  itself,  but  must  be  studied  in  view 
of  its  connection  with  other  branches  of  the  science. 

The  book  is  suited  for  the  reader  of  English. 
The  authorities  exist  for  the  most  part  in  Greek 
and  Latin.  These  are  translated  or  referred  to  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  reader  can  verify  the 
reference.  The  passages  from  the  Fathers  are 
taken  from  the  Abb6  Migne's  great  series,  Patres 
Graci  and  Patres  Latini,  quoted  as  P.G.  and  P.L. 
respectively,  and  another  reference  is  added  which 
will  guide  to  the  passage  in  other  editions.  The 


PREFACE. 

chief  works  quoted  will  be  found  in  a  convenient 
Latin  form  in  Father  Hurter's  collection  called 
Opuscula  Sanctorum  Patrum.  Detached  passages 
are  translated  and  arranged  in  Waterworth's  Faith 
of  Catholics.  The  authoritative  documents  of 
Councils  and  Popes  are  taken  from  Denzinger's 
Enchiridion. 

The  reader  is  supposed  always  to  have  a  Bible 
beside  him. 

A  list  of  a  few  English  books  bearing  on  the 
matter  of  the  volume  will  be  found  appended  to 
this  Preface.  The  Catalogue  of  the  Catholic  Truth 
Society  will  give  the  names  of  popular  tracts  on 
most  of  the  subjects  dealt  with  in  this  volume. 

S.J.H. 


ENGLISH  BOOKS  THAT  MAY  BE  CONSULTED 
WITH    PROFIT. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  REVELATION. 

Schant.     A  Christian  Apology.     Three  volumes,  translated  from 

the  German.  (Gill  and  Son,  1892.) 

Wiseman.    Science  and  Revealed  Religion.  (Booker.  1836.) 
Maas.    Christ  in  Type  and  Prophecy.  (Benziger,  1893.) 
Maher.     Tatian's  Diatessaron.  (London,  1893.) 
Lightfoot.    Essays  in  reply  to  "  Supernatural  Religion." 
Newman.     Essays  on  Miracles. 


HOLY 

Humphrey,    llie  Written  Word. 

Dixon.    General  Introduction  to  the  Sacred  Scripture*. 

MacDevitt.    Introduction  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THB  ROMAN  PONTIFF. 

Allies.    The  See  of  St.  Peter. 

„        Peter,  his  Name  and  Office. 

„        The  Formation  of  Christendom,  and  other  historical  Works, 
Rhodes.    The  Visible  Unity  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Lindsay.    De  Ecclesia  et  Cathedra. 
Marshall.    Christian  Missions. 
Bagshawe.    The  Church. 

„  Credentials  of  the  Catholic  Church 

Rivington.     Authority. 

„  Dependence. 

Oakeley.    The  Church  and  the  Bible. 
Manning.    The  Temporal  Power. 

FAITH. 

Manning.    The  Grounds  of  Faith, 
Newman.    The  Grammar  of  Assent 
Ward.    The  Wish  to  Believe. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

z.  Design.  2.  Theology.  3.  Theology,  Natural  and  Revealed. 
4.  Divisions  of  Theology.  5.  Subsidiary  Sciences.  6.  Modes 
of  Treatment.  7.  Is  it  a  Science  ?  8.  Division  of  the 
Subject.  9.  Method.  10.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  z — 10 

TREATISE   THE    FIRST.      THE    CHRISTIAN 

REVELATION. 
CHAPTER  I.    THE  NATURE  OF  REVELATION. 

iz.  Plan  of  the  Treatise.  12.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. 
13.  Christianity  Supernatural.  14.  The  Primitive  Story. 
15.  Course  of  the  Discussion.  16.  Revelation  and  Mystery. 
17.  Possibility  of  Revelation.  18.  Mode  of  Revelation. 
19.  Revelation  why  necessary.  20.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  II — 21 

CHAPTER  II.    CREDENTIALS  OF  REVELATION. 

ai.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  22.  Private  Revelations. 
23.  Public  Revelations.  24.  Nature  of  Miracle.  25.  Moral 
Miracles  and  Miracles  of  Grace.  26.  Probative  Force. 
27.  Prophecies.  28.  Objections  to  Miracles.  29.  Recapi- 
tulation ......  Pp.  22 — 30 

CHAPTER  III.  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  AND  PROPHECY. 
30.  Subject  of  Chapter.  31.  Faith  and  Reason.  32.  Objections 
to  Miracles  classified.  33.  God  unchangeable.  34.  Testi- 
mony untrustworthy.  35.  Miraculous  character  doubtful. 
36.  Demonic  Agency.  37.  Criteria  of  Miracles.  38.  Have 
Miracles  ceased  ?  39.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  31 — 44 

CHAPTER  IV.  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  PHYSICAL  MIRACLES. 
40.  Subject  of  Chapter.  41.  Early  Existence  of  the  Church. 
Pliny.  42.  Tacitus.  43.  The  Christian  and  other  Accounts. 
44.  Acknowledged  Christian  Writings.  45.  The  Four 
Gospels.  46.  Gospel  Miracles.  47.  Miracles  as  Cre- 
dentials. 48.  The  Gospels,  when  written.  49.  Manu- 
scripts. 50.  Versions.  51.  Testimonies.  52.  Credibility. 
53.  Objections.  54.  Recapitulation  .  .  Pp.  45 — 64 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V     PROPHECY. 

55.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  56.  Nature  of  the  Argument. 
57.  Vague  expectations.  58.  Daniel.  59.  An  Objection 
answered.  60.  Micheas.  61.  Fulfilments  of  Prophecy. 
62.  Other  Messianic  Prophecies.  63.  Prophetic  Allusions. 
64.  Recapitulation  ....  Pp.  65 — 80 

CHAPTER  VI.  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  MORAL  MIRACLES. 
65.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  66.  Nature  of  the  Argument. 
67.  Conversion  of  the  Empire.  68.  This  Success  how 
accounted  for.  69.  The  Success  foretold.  70.  Christian 
Morality.  71.  Bad  Example  and  State  Opposition. 
72.  Recapitulation  .  .  .  .  Pp.  81 — 99 

CHAPTER  VII.  THE  CERTAINTY  OP  THE  CHRISTIAN  REVELATION. 

73.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.      74.  Definitions.      75.  Cogency 

of  the  Argument          ....    Pp.  100—103 

TREATISE  THE  SECOND.    THE  CHANNEL  OF 

DOCTRINE. 
CHAPTER  I.    TRADITION. 

76.  Scope  of  the  Treatise.  77.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. 
78.  The  Rival  Views.  79.  The  Method  used  by  Christ. 
80.  The  Charge  to  the  Apostles.  81.  Action  of  the 
Apostles.  82.  The  Second  Century.  83.  Tertullian. 
Prescription.  84.  The  Work  of  Theology.  85.  Recapitu- 
lation ......  Pp.  104—117 

CHATTER  II.    THE  PROTESTANT  ROLE  OF  FAITH. 

86.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  87.  The  Protestant  Rule  not 
Scriptural.  88.  Prescription.  89.  Scripture.  90.  Reason. 
91.  The  Fathers.  92.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  118 — 128 

CHAPTER  III.     MONUMENTS  OP  TRADITION. 

93.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  94.  Formal  Definitions.  95.  The 
Liturgy  and  Ritual.  96.  History.  97.  Archaeology.  98.  The 
Fathers.  99.  Tests  of  Unanimity,  zoo.  Single  Witnesses. 
101.  St.  Augustine.  102.  The  Doctors.  103.  Bishops  and 
People.  104.  Recapitulation  .  .  Pp.  129 — 145' 

CHAPTER  IV.    SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION. 

105.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  106.  Tradition,  prior  in  Time 
and  Thought.  107.  Wider  in  Scope.  108.  More  necessary. 
109.  Recapitulation  .  .  Pp.  146 — 155 


CONTENTS.  xiii 


CHAPTER  V.    DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE. 

no.  Subject  of  Chapter,  in.  Heresies.  112.  The  Catholic 
Doctrine.  113.  Progress  of  Theology.  114.  The  Vincentian 
Canon.  115.  Recapitulation  .  .  Pp.  156 — 166 

TREATISE  THE  THIRD.    HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

CHAPTER  I.    WHAT  is  MEANT  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

116.  Plan  of  the  Treatise.  117.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. 
118.  "  Scripture,"  "  Bible."  119.  Date  of  Composition. 
120.  Original  Languages.  121.  Writers.  122.  Extent. 
123.  Style.  124.  Matter.  125.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  167—175 

CHAPTER  II.    THE  SPECIAL  CHARACTER  or  SCRIPTURE. 

126.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  127.  Names  given  to  Scripture. 
128.  Mode  of  Citation.  129.  Decisiveness.  130.  Manu- 
scripts and  Versions.  131.  Laborious  Study.  132.  Esteemed 
by  the  Jews.  133.  Heretics  and  Heathens.  134.  Recapi- 
tulation .....  Pp.  176 — 184 

CHAPTER  III.    INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

135.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  136.  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 
137.  The  Teaching  of  Christ.  138.  Doctrine  of  the 
Apostles.  139.  The  Fathers.  140.  Man's  Part:  the 
Intellect.  141.  Man's  Part:  the  Will.  142.  Supervision. 
143.  Verbal  Inspiration.  144.  Views  of  Inspiration. 
145.  Freedom  from  Error.  146.  The  Fathers.  147.  Re- 
capitulation .....  Pp.  185 — 201 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  CANON. 

148.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  149.  The  Rival  Canons. 
150.  The  Canon,  how  determined.  151.  When  established. 
152.  The  Old  Testament.  153.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  202 — 214 

CHAPTER  V.    VERSIONS  AND  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

154.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  155.  Translation.  156.  Imperfect 
and  False  Renderings.  157.  The  Church  and  the  Versions. 
158.  The  Vulgate.  159.  Interpretation  of  Scripture. 
1 60.  The  Use  of  Versions.  161.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  215 — 2*6 


CONTENTS. 


TREATISE  THE  FOURTH.     THE  CHURCH. 

CHAPTER  I.    EXISTENCE  OP  THE  CHURCH. 

162.  Plan  of  Treatise.  163.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  164.  Mean- 
ing of  "  Church."  165.  Church  and  Churches.  166.  The 
Church  Perennial.  167.  Proof  of  Perennity.  168.  The 
Church  Visible.  169.  Proof  of  Visibility.  170.  Difficulties 
against  Visibility.  171.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  227 — 243 

CHAPTER  II.    THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

172.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  173.  Meaning  of  "Society." 
174.  Societies  classified.  175  Family,  State,  and  Church. 
176.  The  Church  Supernatural.  177.  Christ  the  Head, 
the  Church  the  Body.  178.  The  Mystic  Body.  179.  The 
Three  Societies.  180.  The  Ends  compared.  181.  Duty 
of  Membership.  182.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  244 — 256 

CHAPTER  III.     THE  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CHURCH. 

183.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  184.  Terms  defined.  185.  Figures 
of  the  Church.  186.  Soul  and  Body  of  the  Church. 
187.  Who  belong  to  the  Soul.  188.  Who  belong  to  the 
Body.  189.  Various  Errors.  190.  The  Predestined. 
191.  The  Just.  192.  Difficulties.  193.  Heresy  194.  Children 
of  Heretics.  195.  Catechumens.  196.  Excommunication 
197.  Schism.  198.  Recapitulation  .  .  Pp.  257 — 282 

CHAPTER  IV.  CONSTITUTION  AND  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH. 
199.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  200.  Governors  and  Governed 
201.  The  Protestant  Views.  202.  Source  of  Authority. 
203.  Authority  to  Teach.  204.  The  Protestant  System. 
205.  The  Church  Infallible.  206.  Proofs  of  Infallibility. 
207.  Objections  against  Infallibility.  208.  Seat  of  Infal- 
libility. 209.  Extent  of  Infallibility.  210.  Faith  and 
Morals.  211.  Dogmatic  Facts.  212.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  283—314 

CHAPTER  V.    UNITY  OP  THE  CHURCH. 

213.  Subject  of  Chapter.  214.  Properties  of  the  Church. 
215.  Catholic  Doctrine  on  Unity.  216.  Schism.  217.  The 
Donatists.  218.  The  Great  Schism.  2x9.  Errors  as  to 
Unity  220.  Unity  of  Faith.  221.  Unity  of  Worship. 
222.  The  Diptychs.  223.  Letters.  224.  Unity  of  Govern- 
ment. 225.  Objections.  226.  Riva  Views.  227.  Recapi- 
tulation .  .  .  Pp.  315—344 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI.    SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

228.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  229.  Meaning  of  Holiness. 
230.  The  Church  Holy.  231.  Heroic  Sanctity.  232.  The 
Church  Holy  in  her  Members.  233.  Worldly  Success. 
234.  Objections.  235.  Miracles.  236.  Recapitulation 

Pp-  345—359 

CHAPTER  VII.    CATHOLICITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

237.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  238.  Meaning  of  ••Catholic." 
239.  The  Church  of  Christ  Catholic.  240.  Early  Testi- 
monies. 241.  Force  of  the  Proof.  242.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  360—364 

CHAPTER  VIII.    APOSTOLICITY  OF  THB  CHURCH. 

243.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  244.  Meaning  of  "Apostle." 
245.  Later  Use.  246.  The  Church  Apostolic.  247.  Re- 
capitulation .....  Pp.  365 — 370 

CHAPTER  IX.    NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

248.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  249.  Notes  of  the  Church 
250.  Christian  Communities  classified.  251.  The  Unpre- 
latic.  252.  The  Prelatic.  253.  The  Easterns.  254.  The 
Roman  Church.  Unity.  255.  Sanctity.  256.  Catholicity. 
•57.  Apostolicity.  258.  Objections.  259.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  371—39° 


TREATISE  THE  FIFTH.     THE  ROMAN   PONTIFF. 

CHAPTER  I.    POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

260.  Plan  of  Treatise.  261.  Subject  of  Chapter.  262.  Who  is 
the  Pope  ?  263.  Papal  Functions  classified.  264.  Action 
of  Pope  as  Teacher.  265.  Papal  Legislation.  266.  The 
Pope  and  the  Bishops.  267.  Liturgy.  268.  Mode  of 
Exercise.  269.  Prescription.  270.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  391-^07 

CHAPTER  II.    WHO  WAS  ST.  PETER  ? 

371.  Subject  of  Chapter.  272.  St.  Peter,  Bishop  of  Rome. 
273.  The  First  of  the  Apostles.  274.  A  Dignity  Promised. 
27}  Assistance  Promised.  276.  The  Dignity  Conferred. 
277.  The  Acts  and  Epistles.  278.  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter. 
279  Recapitulation  ,  Pp.  408 — 427 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III.    THE  PRIMACY. 

280.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  281.  The  Centre  of  Unity. 
282.  Peter  the  Foundation.  283.  The  Promise  of  the 
Keys.  284.  The  Confirmer.  285.  The  Office  of  Shepherd 
•86.  Papal  Primacy.  287.  The  Universal  Bishop.  288.  Re- 
capitulation .....  Pp.  428 — 440 

CHAPTER  IV.    INFALLIBILITY. 

289.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  290.  Infallibility  Defined. 
291.  Proofs  of  Infallibility.  292.  Objections.  293.  Reca- 
pitulation .....  Pp.  441—453 

CHAPTER  V.    THE  POPE  AMD  THE  BISHOPS. 

294.  Subject  of  Chapter.  295.  Episcopal  Government. 
296.  Councils.  297.  Ecumenical  Councils.  298.  The 
Time  of  Schism.  299.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  454 — 465 

CHAPTER  VI.    THE  TEMPORAL  POWER. 

300.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  301.  Church  and  State. 
302.  Immunity.  303.  Concordats.  304.  The  Galilean 
Liberties.  305.  The  Temporal  Power.  306.  Recapitula- 
tion ......  Pp.  466—478 

TREATISE  THE  SIXTH.      FAITH. 

CHAPTER  I.    THE  ACT  OF  FAITH. 

307.  Plan  of  the  Treatise.  308.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. 
309.  Explanation  of  Terms.  310.  "  Faith  "  in  Scripture. 
311.  Erroneous  Views.  312.  Analysis  of  Faith.  313.  The 
Certitude  of  Revelation.  314.  Faith  and  Moral  Virtues. 
315.  Faith  in  God.  316.  Faith  Obligatory  and  Free 
317.  Doubts  as  to  Faith.  318.  Need  of  Grace.  319.  The 
Certainty  of  Faith.  320.  Recapitulation  .  Pp.  479—502 

CHAPTER  II.    REVELATION  AND  REASON. 

321.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  322.  Oneness  of  Truth 
323.  Faith  in  Mysteries.  324.  Recapitulation 

Pp.  503—506 

CHAPTER  HI.    THE  RULE  or  FAITH 

325.  Subject  of  the  Chapter.  326  The  Material  Object  of 
Faith.  327.  Proposal  by  the  Church.  328.  Censures 
329.  Recapitulation.  330.  Close  of  the  Volume 

Pp.  507—513 
APPENDIX      METHOD  or  DISPUTATION  ,  .     Pp.  514—518 


OUTLINES    OF    DOGMATIC 
THEOLOGY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

PLAN  AND  DIVISIONS  OF  THE   WORK. 

I.  Design. — It  is  intended  in  this  work  to  give 
a  brief  outline  of  the  Dogmatic  Theology  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  No  more  can  be  attempted  than 
the  very  briefest  treatment  of  each  portion  of  this 
vast  subject,  but  it  is  hoped  that  even  such  a 
synopsis  as  is  here  presented  will  not  be  without  its 
use.  The  student  who  is  beginning  to  attend  to 
Theology  is  often  perplexed,  through  a  difficulty  in 
seeing  how  the  various  Treatises  that  come  before 
him  hang  together,  or  why  they  should  be  taken  in 
one  order  rather  than  another ;  a  special  endeavour 
will  therefore  be  made  here  to  point  out  the 
sequence  of  treatises,  and  to  show  how  far  each  is 
dependent  upon  others,  in  accordance  with  the 
advice  given  by  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  in  the  Prologue 
to  his  Summa  Theologica,  It  is  hoped  that  the 
reader  will  find  every  important  point  of  doctrine 
touched  upon,  so  far  at  least  as  to  show  the  place 

B  VOL.  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


it  holds  in  the  general  scheme ;  and  references  will 
be  given,  as  far  as  possible,  to  English  authors, 
in  whose  works  further  information  can  most  con- 
veniently be  sought. 

2.  Theology. — The    word    "  Theology "    signifies 
"A   discourse   on   God,"   as    its   derivation   shows 
(&f6s,   \oyos).      In    its   widest    sense,    therefore,    it 
would  include  all  systematic  study  which  in  any  way 
concerns  God  or  His  works;    including,  therefore, 
the  study  of  Nature,  organic  or  inorganic,  and  of 
Man    as    revealed    in    history.      But   to   take   the 
word  so  very  widely  would  be  to  fritter  away  the 
distinction  of  the  sciences,  and  lead  to  confusion 
instead  of  orderly  knowledge.     It  is  well,  therefore, 
that   actual    usage    has   very   much   restricted    the 
meaning  of  the  word. 

3.  Theology,  Natural  and  Revealed. — A  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  God,  our  Creator  and  Lord,  can 
be  attained    with  certainty  by  man  contemplating 
the  world  around  him,  by  the  exercise  of  the  natural 
power  of  his  reason.     This  truth  is  defined  by  the 
Vatican  Council,  in  the  second  Chapter,  on  Revela- 
tion, and  will  be  explained  and  proved  hereafter  in 
its  proper  place,  in  the  second  volume  of  our  work. 
The  knowledge  of  the  Being  and  the  Attributes  of 
God  which  can  be  gained  in  this  way,  constitutes 
the  science  of  Natural  Theology,  which  is  a  branch 
of    Philosophy.    (See    Father    Boedder's    work    in 
the  series  called    Stonyhurst   Manuals  of  Catholic 
Philosophy.) 

The  knowledge  of  God  which  Natural  Theology 
teaches,  however  solid   and   valuable,  is   far  from 


3]  THEOLOGY,  NATURAL  AND  REVEALED.  3 

being  all  that  we  can  know  concerning  Him,  for, 
as  will  be  shown  in  its  proper  place  (Treatise  I.), 
it  has  pleased  God  to  give  to  the  human  race  a 
Revelation  concerning  Himself,  by  which  our  natural 
knowledge  of  His  being  and  of  His  dealings  with 
us  is  confirmed  and  immensely  enlarged.  The 
knowledge  that  we  gain  through  this  Revelation 
constitutes  Theology  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term ;  and  it  is  of  this  that  we  treat  in  these 
Outlines. 

4.  Divisions  of  Theology. — St.  Thomas,  in  his 
Summa  Theologica,  designed  to  treat  of  the  whole  of 
Theology  in  the  sense  just  explained,  having  dealt 
with  Natural  Theology  in  his  Summa  contra  Gentes. 
But  death  prevented  the  completion  of  his  work, 
and  subsequent  writers  have  found  that  the  design 
is  too  vast ;  no  satisfactory  result  can  be  obtained 
unless  the  matter  is  broken  up,  especially  because 
the  different  parts  are  found  to  require  each  its  own 
appropriate  method  of  treatment.  Accordingly, 
besides  Dogmatic  Theology  (ra  Soteovvra  ovra),  or 
Doctrine,  with  which  we  are  here  chiefly  concerned, 
there  are  authors  who  treat  of  Moral  Theology,  or 
the  rules  which  God  has  laid  down  as  obligatory 
upon  all  men  as  guides  of  their  conduct  (mores); 
Ascetic  Theology  (aovajo-t?),  which,  so  far  as  it  can 
be  distinguished  from  Moral  and  Mystic,  may  be 
described  as  giving  the  rules  for  those  who  aspire 
to  a  closer  union  with  God  than  is  obligatory  upon 
all,  and  who  receive  from  Him  that  help  without 
which  they  cannot  secure  this  happiness;  and 
Mystic  Theology,  which  deals  mainly  with  those 


INTRODUCTION.  [4 


extraordinary  favours  which  God  is  pleased  from 
time  to  time  to  bestow  upon  certain  persons,  not 
primarily  for  their  own  benefit,  but  for  the  benefit 
of  others.  This  word  Mystic  is  derived  from  the 
same  root  (jivco)  as  Mystery,  but  by  usage  the  two 
words  bear  different  meanings ;  all  truths  known  by 
Revelation  are  called  Mysteries,  however  simple  in 
themselves ;  thus  we  speak  of  the  Mysteries  of  the 
Rosary,  which  are  familiar  to  all  Christians;  but 
Mystic  Theology  is  concerned  with  the  visions  of 
the  saints,  and  the  like.  The  boundary  lines 
between  Moral,  Ascetic,  and  Mystic  are  not  clearly 
defined. 

5.  Subsidiary  Sciences. — All  other  sciences  are  in 
a  sense  subsidiary  to  Theology,  for  this  is  imme- 
diately concerned  with  God,  the  Source  of  all  things, 
and  Whose  knowledge  embraces  the  very  truth  about 
all  things  actual  and  possible.  But  there  are  some 
branches  of  knowledge  which  subserve  Theology 
in  a  more  direct  manner.  Chief  among  these  is 
Philosophy,  which  discusses  the  general  principles 
upon  which  all  knowledge  depends,  and  certain 
questions  concerning  existing  things ;  especially, 
Philosophy  is  useful  as  exposing  the  futility  of 
attempts  that  are  sometimes  made  to  prove  that 
certain  truths  contained  in  Revelation  are  self- 
contradictory:  the  Real  Presence  of  the  Body  of  our 
Lord  under  the  accidents  of  bread,  for  example. 
The  theologian  ought  to  be  acquainted  with  certain 
parts  of  Physics,  both  in  the  ancient  and  the  modern 
forms  of  the  science;  for  otherwise  he  will  be  unable 
to  understand  the  writings  of  divines  of  former  ages, 


5]  SUBSIDIARY  SCIENCES.  $ 

or  to  explain  himself  to  men  of  his  own  day.  He 
ought  to  possess  himself  of  some  portions  of  History 
and  Archaeology,  which  teach  what  have  been  God's 
dealings  with  His  rational  creatures ;  and  of  Canon 
Law  and  Liturgical  science,  which  show  what  has 
been  the  action  of  that  Society  which  God  has 
established  for  the  purpose  of  guiding  men  to 
Him. 

It  is  part  of  the  proper  subject  of  Theology  to 
discuss  the  precise  character  of  the  writings  which 
constitute  Holy  Scripture,  and  distinguish  them 
from  all  other  writings ;  also,  to  lay  down  certain 
rules  as  to  the  authority  that  attaches  to  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church.  Again,  since  Theology 
founds  some  of  its  arguments  upon  particular 
passages  of  these  monuments  of  antiquity,  it  neces- 
sarily discusses  fully  the  precise  meaning  of  these 
passages.  But  it  is  not  necessary  for  Theology  to 
give  a  continuous  commentary  upon  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Patristic  writings;  the  interpreter,  however, 
no  less  than  the  historian,  must  have  before  his  eyes 
the  teachings  of  Theology,  as  the  norm  to  which 
his  expositions  must  conform.  This  rule  results 
from  the  certainty  which  Theology  attains,  which  is 
higher  than  the  certainty  that  can  be  ascribed  to 
any  interpretation  of  a  text  or  historical  view. 
This  is  explained  in  the  sixth  Treatise,  on  Faith, 
(n.  319.) 

6.  Modes  of  Treatment. — Christian  writers  of  all 
times  have  left  us  commentaries,  sermons,  letters, 
and  treatises  on  particular  points  of  doctrine, 
directed  against  various  errors  as  they  have  arisen ; 


INTRODUCTION.  1C 


and  by  the  study  of  these  writings  it  is  possible  to 
ascertain  what  was  the  belief  of  the  writers  on 
various  points.  But  for  a  thousand  years  or  more, 
little  attempt  was  made  to  systematize  the  body  of 
doctrine,  and  to  show  how  it  formed  a  coherent 
whole.  Afterwards,  however,  this  work  was  done 
by  the  labour  of  the  Schoolmen,  so  called  because 
the  earliest  of  them  taught  in  the  schools,  which 
having  been  established  in  cities  and  monasteries 
through  the  act  or  influence  of  Charlemagne, 
grew  into  the  Universities  of  mediaeval  Europe. 
St.  Anselm,  who  died  in  1109,  is  commonly  reckoned 
the  first  of  the  Schoolmen,  just  as  St.  Bernard  was 
the  last  of  the  Fathers,  having  closed  his  life  in 

1*53- 

Scholastic  Theology  is,  therefore,  a  particular 
treatment  of  the  subject,  where  every  term  is  pre- 
cisely defined,  doctrine  is  clearly  stated  without 
superfluous  matter,  order  is  strictly  observed,  the 
questions  why  f  and  how  f  are  raised  and  answered, 
and  objections  are  put  shortly  but  plainly  and 
replied  to  in  the  same  manner.  In  contradistinction 
from  this,  Positive  Theology  does  not  concern  itself 
with  formal  definitions,  adopts  a  flowing  style, 
chooses  its  matter  with  a  view  to  some  practical 
object,  ignores  all  subtle  inquiry  into  the  reason  and 
manner  of  things,  and  incorporates  the  answers  to 
difficulties  in  the  general  discourse. 

The  difference  between  Positive  and  Scholastic 
Theology  is  then  a  difference  of  method,  not  of 
Joctrine.  It  happens,  however,  that  most  of  the 
great  Scholastics  followed  one  system  of  Philosophy, 


61  SCHOLASTIC  THEOLOGY.  y 

founded  on  that  of  Aristotle ;  from  which  it  resulted 
that  this  body  of  philosophical  doctrine  received  the 
name  of  Scholastic  Philosophy,  and  under  this 
name  it  still  holds  its  own  in  most  Catholic  schools, 
witnessing  the  rise  and  fall  of  countless  rival 
systems. 

A  third  method  of  treating  Theology  was 
rendered  necessary  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  teachers  who  carried  a 
large  part  of  Europe  with  them  at  that  time,  were 
not  content  with  denying  one  or  another  point  of 
Catholic  doctrine,  but  they  attacked  the  system  as 
a  whole  and  in  every  point.  To  meet  them  it  was 
necessary  to  establish  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
which  had  not  been  called  in  question  in  previous 
ages,  and  also  to  defend  all  particular  doctrines 
against  a  new  method  of  attack.  This  Controversy 
or  Polemic  Theology  (TroXe/no?,  war)  was  put  into 
shape  by  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  whose  method  can 
scarcely  be  improved  upon,  and  Polemics  still  con- 
tinue to  be  a  principal,  but  by  no  means  the  only, 
employment  of  a  theologian.  The  result  of  the 
discussions  of  the  last  three  centuries  has  been 
the  separation  of  one  portion  of  Polemics,  and  its 
formation  into  a  compact  whole,  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  Apologetics  or  Fundamental  Theology. 
Its  nature  will  be  explained  directly,  (n.  8.)  A 
judicious  combination  of  Positive,  Scholastic,  and 
Controversy  is  what  is  required  at  the  present  day. 
(See  n.  84.)  It  will  be  remembered  that  St.  Ignatius 
of  Loyola  lays  it  down  as  one  of  the  Rules  for 
nreserving  harmony  of  feeling  with  the  Church 


INTRODUCTION.  [6 


(Rule  u),  that  we  must  approve  of  both  Positive 
and  Scholastic  Theology,  each  being  useful  in 
its  place.  He  wrote  before  Polemic  had  taken 
shape. 

7.  Is  it  a  Science? — The  question  is  sometimes 
raised,  whether  Theology  is  a  science.   The  answer  is 
that  it  is  not  a  science  in  the  sense  of  being  founded 
on   self-evident   principles,   like   Geometry,    for   its 
principles,  while  they  are  supremely  certain,  are  of 
a  different   nature   from   those  of   other   sciences. 
But  it  deserves  to  be  called  a  science,  and  the  chief 
of  sciences,  on  account  of  the  pre-eminent  certainty 
of  its  principles ;    as  shall  be  explained  when  we 
treat  of  Faith.  (Treatise  VI.) 

8.  Division  of  Subject. — In  the   arrangement  of 
our  matter,  we  shall  for  the  most  part  follow  the 
order  adopted  by  St.  Thomas  in  his  Summa.     The 
Saint  first   treats  of  God,  one   Substance   existing 
in  three  Persons ;    then   of  the  creatures   of  God, 
especially   the   rational   creatures,  the  Angels   and 
Man.     He  then  discusses  the  end  for  which  man 
was  created,  and  how  he  is  to  attain  that  end,  by 
the  use  of  his  free-will ;  and  it  is  here  that  Moral, 
Ascetic,  and  Mystic  Theology  would  find  their  place 
did   our  design   extend    to  them.      Afterwards   we 
have  the  Treatise  on  the  Incarnation,  inasmuch  as 
Christ  is  the  way  by  which  man  attains  his  end ; 
on  Grace ;  and  on  the  Sacraments,  the  great  means 
by  which  the  benefit  of  the  work  of  Christ  is  applied 
to   individual    souls.      Had    not   death    interfered, 
St.  Thomas    would    have    finished    the    work    by 
Treatises  on  the  Four  Last  Things. 


8]  DIVISION  OF  SUBJECT.  g 

This  sufficed  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  no 
one  called  in  question  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
But  at  the  present  day,  as  already  explained  (n.  6), 
it  is  necessary  to  add  certain  Treatises  which  are 
especially  Polemical,  inquiring  what  is  the  True 
Religion,  which  will  be  shown  to  be  the  Christian 
Revelation  ;  what  are  the  sources  of  our  knowledge 
of  this  Revelation,  namely  Tradition  and  Scripture ; 
what  the  position  of  the  Church  as  guardian  of 
Revelation,  and  her  constitution,  which  is  monar- 
chical, under  the  Roman  Pontiff.  The  name  of 
Fundamental  Theology  is  sometimes  given  to  this 
group  of  five  Treatises,  with  which  it  is  convenient 
to  begin.  A  sixth  Treatise,  on  Faith,  completes  the 
volume. 

9.  Method. — In  discussing  each  point  in  its  turn, 
we  shall  in  general  observe  the  following  order. 
First  we  shall  point  out  how  the  question  arises, 
and  what  room  there  is  for  difference  of  opinion 
consistent  with  the  truths  that  are  considered  as 
already  established  at  this  place ;  this  will  -involve 
all  necessary  explanation  of  the  terms  employed. 
The  Catholic  doctrine  will  then  be  stated,  or  if  the 
point  be  open,  then  that  which  seems  preferable, 
and  proof  of  it  will  be  given  derived  from  the  three 
great  loci,  Scripture,  Tradition,  and  Reason  ;  where 
by  Reason  is  meant  not  merely  the  pure  unassisted 
reason  of  man,  but  more  commonly  theological 
reason,  that  is  to  say,  the  analogy  of  other  parts  of 
revealed  doctrine.  Objections  that  may  be  raised 
against  the  doctrine  will  then  be  considered,  if 
necessary ;  but  it  will  often  be  found  that  they  have 


io  INTRODUCTION.  [g 

been  anticipated  in  the  introductory  explanation,  for 
difficulties  are  very  commonly  based  on  an  ignoratio 
elenchi :  mistake  of  the  point. 

io.  Recapitulation. — So  far  we  have  explained 
the  nature  of  Theology  and  its  branches,  Dogmatic, 
Fundamental,  Moral,  Ascetic,  and  Mystic ;  also  the 
different  modes  in  which  it  can  be  treated,  Positive, 
Scholastic,  and  Polemic.  The  convenient  distribution 
of  the  subject  was  then  shown,  and  the  arrangement 
which  will  here  be  observed  in  the  treatment  of  each 
question. 


tTreatise  tbe  jffrst 
THE  CHRISTIAN   REVELATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    NATURE    OF   REVELATION. 

11.  Plan  of  the  Treatise. — In  this  Treatise  we  shall 
show  in  successive  chapters,  first  what  is  meant  by 
the  Revelation  of  a  Mystery  and  that  such  Revela- 
tion is  possible.     Then  that  Miracles  and  Prophecy 
are    possible,   and    that    they   may    serve    as    the 
credentials  of  one  who  claims  to  be  commissioned 
to   proclaim   a    Divine    revelation.      Thirdly,    that 
Miracles  and  Prophecy  attest  the  claim  of  Christ  to 
be  considered  a  Divine  Messenger.     Lastly,  it  will 
be  pointed  out  as  the  result  of  this  discussion  that 
the    Divine  origin  of  the   Christian   Revelation   is 
certain  but  not  evident. 

12.  Subject   of  Chapter. — The   first    chapter   will 
point  out  the  supernatural  character  claimed  by  the 
Christian  religion,  and  we  shall  study  the  nature 
and  necessity  of  revelation. 

13.  Christianity  Supernatural. — It  can  scarcely  be 
seriously  disputed  that  Christianity  claims  to  be  a 
supernatural    religion.     Its    leading   doctrines,    the 


la  THE   NATURE  OF  REVELATION.  [13 

Trinity  in  Unity  and  the  Incarnation,  are  thoroughly 
supernatural :  they  could  not  possibly  have  been 
known  to  be  true,  except  by  revelation  from  God, 
and  even  assuming  that  they  have  been  revealed, 
the  natural  powers  of  man  are  totally  incompetent 
to  understand  the  intrinsic  reasons  on  which  the) 
depend :  those  who  accept  them  do  so  purely  on 
the  authority  of  God.  Moreover,  the  proof  that 
Christians  adduce  to  justify  their  belief  that  God 
has  spoken  is  itself  supernatural ;  for  it  depends 
upon  a  succession  of  prophecies  and  upon  miracles, 
of  which  the  principal  is  the  Resurrection  of  our 
Lord  from  the  dead.  And  further,  Christianity 
holds  out  to  man  a  final  destiny  beyond  the  powers 
of  his  nature  or  that  of  any  creature,  and  offers  him 
supernatural  help,  to  enable  him  to  attain  this 
destiny.  A  religion  which  is  supernatural  in  its 
doctrines,  its  credentials,  and  its  aims,  certainly 
claims  to  be  called  supernatural.  By  "supernatural" 
we  understand  what  surpasses  the  powers  of  a 
creature :  the  fuller  discussion  of  this  most  impor- 
tant term  will  find  a  place  when  we  treat  of  the 
condition  of  our  first  parents  before  their  sin. 

14.  The  Primitive  Story. — That  Christianity  as  it 
now  exists,  and  is  professed  by  the  great  bulk  of 
its  followers  claims  to  be  supernatural,  will  be 
generally  admitted :  but  it  is  sometimes  said  that 
this  was  not  the  primitive  character  of  the  religion. 
There  are  those  who  profess  the  highest  respect  for 
the  teaching  of  Christ  and  avow  themselves  His 
followers,  but  declare  that  He  never  aspired  to  a 
higher  character  than  that  of  a  purely  human 


I4]  THE  PRIMITIVE  STORY.  13 

instructor  in  a  sublime  system  of  morality;  and 
whatever  else  is  attributed  to  Him  is,  they  say, 
a  later  corruption.  These  men  will  quote  with 
admiration  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  the 
verse  where  St.  James  teaches  that  pure  religion  is 
to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the  widows  in  their  afflic- 
tion (St.  James  i.  27);  and  they  add  that  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  in  his  old  age,  had  no  last  lesson  to 
inculcate  upon  his  disciples  except  mutual  love,  as 
St.  Jerome  tells  us  in  his  commentary  upon  the  last 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Galatians 
(P.L.  26,  433),  where  St.  Paul  exhorts  his  disciples 
to  work  good  to  all  men,  and  to  bear  one  another's 
burdens.  In  all  this,  they  say,  there  is  admirable 
morality,  but  nothing  of  the  supernatural,  or  of  the 
subtleties  of  theological  doctrine. 

This  patronizing  tone  was  adopted  as  long  ago 
as  the  third  century  by  Porphyry,  as  we  learn  from 
Eusebius.  (Prcep.  Evang.  3 ;  P.G.  22,  236.)  Socinus 
was  driven  to  it,  as  an  escape  from  the  doctrinal 
strife  of  the  early  Protestant  sects  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  was  adopted  by  the  English  deists  of 
the  Georgian  era,  from  whom  it  was  borrowed  by 
the  German  Lessing,  whose  influence  is  still  felt  in 
his  own  country.  Renan  has  made  the  view  popular 
in  France,  and  it  prevails  extensively  in  England, 
being  preached  by  many  popular  writers.  It  is 
probably  rife  among  some  Freemasons. 

We  have  here  to  deal  with  one  of  those  worst 
of  falsehoods  which  are  half  a  truth.  There  is  no 
height  of  charity  or  other  natural  virtue  so  sublime 
but  what  Christianity  invites  men  to  aspire  to  itf 


14  THE  NATURE  OF   REVELATION.  [14 

furnishing  them  with  potent  helps  in  the  endeavour, 
and  motives  and  examples.  But  along  with  this, 
as  we  have  shown,  the  religion  has  a  marked  super- 
natural character.  The  bases  of  Christianity  are 
found  in  the  books  of  Holy  Scripture,  especially  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  as  they  are  commonly 
read  are  full  of  narratives  and  discourses  which  admit 
of  no  natural  explanation.  Accordingly,  in  all  ages 
those  who  are  not  content  to  accept  Christianity  as 
it  was  left  by  its  Founder,  have  asserted  that  these 
books  have  been  largely  interpolated,  or  that  their 
true  date  is  far  later  than  is  commonly  supposed. 
Thus,  they  refuse  to  admit  the  authority  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John,  and  of  many  of  the  Epistles,  but 
those  who  go  furthest  in  this  line  will  admit  that 
the  three  Synoptic  Gospels  represent  the  original 
story,  as  do  also  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  four 
at  least  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul :  those  to  the 
Romans  and  Galatians  and  the  two  to  the  Corin- 
thians. But  even  from  these  they  cut  out  the 
miraculous  narratives  as  being  spurious  interpola- 
tions, and  explain  as  best  they  can  such  passages 
as  those  in  St.  Matthew  (xi.  25)  and  St.  Luke 
(x.  21),  where  our  Lord  thanks  His  Father  for  the 
fulness  of  the  revelation  that  He  has  granted  to  the 
little  ones  of  earth.  We  shall  prove  the  authenticity 
and  genuineness  of  the  Gospels  in  its  proper  place 
(nn.  48 — 53) ;  but  we  must  here  call  attention  to 
the  utter  untrustworthiness  of  the  line  of  argument 
which  rejects  passages  from  an  author  on  purely 
internal  grounds,  though  such  grounds  may  have 
a  certain  weight  when  they  go  along  with  other 


14]  THE  PRIMITIVE  STORY.  15 


circumstances.  For  instance,  there  is  not  a  particle 
of  external  objection  to  the  account  given  by 
St.  Matthew  (i.  19)  of  the  miraculous  conception 
of  our  Lord :  it  is  found  in  all  the  manuscripts  and 
versions.  To  reject  it  as  an  interpolation  and  then 
to  argue  from  the  silence  of  the  document,  thus 
manipulated,  as  showing  that  there  was  nothing 
supernatural  in  the  original  story,  is  a  plain  begging 
of  the  question.  A  course  like  this  seems  to  have 
been  adopted  by  the  Manicheans,  and  elicited  a 
protest  from  St.  Augustine.  (De  Utilitate  Credendi, 
c.  3,  n.  7;  P.L.  42,  69.) 

15.  Course  of  the  Discussion. — We  might  at  once 
proceed  to  show  that  this  claim  of  Christianity  to 
be  a  supernatural  revelation  is  in  fact  well  founded ; 
after  which  it  would  be  superfluous  to  prove  that 
such  revelation  is  possible.   But  it  will  be  instructive 
first  to  discuss  the  grounds  alleged  by  some  writers 
for  believing  that  nothing  of  the  sort  can  happen, 
and  to  show  their  futility.     In  this  discussion,  we 
shall  assume  as  granted  the  existence  of  God,  the 
all-wise  and  all-powerful  Creator  of  all  things.     This 
truth  will,  of  course,  be  proved  in  its  proper  place, 
in  the  second  volume. 

16.  Revelation  and    Mystery. — Revelation   is  the 
making  known  of  something  which  was  previously 
unknown:  the  unfolding  of  a  mystery.     Mysteries 
are  of  various  kinds.     The  thing  may  be  in  itself 
cognizable  by  the  senses,  which,  however,  have  no 
opportunity  of  receiving  the  necessary  impression : 
thus,  it  is  a  mystery  to  me  how  much  money  my 
neighbour  has  in  his  pocket,  and  the  state  of  things 


16  THE  NATURE  OF  REVELATION.  [16 

on  the  other  side  of  the  moon  is  a  mystery  to  all 
mankind.  There  are  other  mysteries  which  lie 
beyond  the  scope  of  sense ;  for  instance,  my  secret 
thoughts  are  unknown  to  my  neighbours,  except  so 
far  as  I  please  to  reveal  them.  In  all  these  cases, 
man  is  capable  of  understanding  the  matter  if  it  be 
brought  before  him ;  he  can  see  how  the  subject 
and  predicate  hang  together:  but  there  may  be, 
and  in  fact  are,  mysteries  of  a  higher  nature,  in 
which  the  manner  of  the  connection  of  the  terms 
remains  obscure,  even  when  the  truth  of  their 
connection  is  known.  These  are  called  Divine 
mysteries,  as  are  also  all  matters  that  depend  upon 
the  free-will  of  God.  We  shall  meet  with  examples 
of  both  sorts  when  we  prove  the  doctrines  of  the 
Trinity  and  Incarnation,  and  the  form  of  government 
which  it  has  pleased  God  to  give  to  His  Church. 
Meanwhile,  we  remark  that  whoever  denies  the 
possibility  of  the  existence  of  such  mysteries  assumes 
that  the  Divine  understanding  is  no  wider  than  his 
own :  a  presumptuous  and  baseless  assumption. 
The  Vatican  Council  was  therefore  justified  in 
declaring  that  such  mysteries  do  exist  (Const,  i,  c.  4  ; 
Denz.  1643) :  a  doctrine  plainly  contained  in  such 
passages  as  Romans  xi.  33,  where  God's  judgments 
are  declared  to  be  incomprehensible,  and  His  ways 
unsearchable. 

17.  Possibility  of  Revelation. — We  have  now  to 
show  that  it  is  possible  for  God  to  grant  to  men  the 
revelation  of  certain  Divine  mysteries ;  which  can 
be  done  only  by  showing  the  absence  of  any  insu- 
perable difficulty  in  the  way.  We  must  pronounce 


17]  POSSIBILITY  UF  REVELATION.  17 

all  things  to  be  possible  to  God    in  which  we  do 
not   perceive   a   contradiction.     Now,  the  work   of 
instruction  can  always  be  carried  on  if  the  teacher 
knows  the  matter,  the  pupil  has  capacity  to  receive 
the  instruction,  and  communication  can  be  estab- 
lished between  teacher  and  pupil.     But,  when  God 
is  the  Teacher,  He  certainly  knows  the  matter,  for 
He   is   all-knowing.     Man    is   capable   of  receiving 
instruction  in  these  mysteries,  for  nothing  else  is 
needed  than  that  he  should  have  some  understanding 
of  the  terms :  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  to 
some  extent  what  is  meant   by  "  substance "  and 
"person,"  and  this  is  sufficient  to  make  it  possible 
intelligently  to  believe  that  in  God  there  are  three 
Persons    in    one    Substance,   although    how   this    is 
be  entirely  unknown,  and  even  what  these  Persons 
are  is  beyond  our  comprehension.     Just  so,  a  boy 
going  to  sea  understands  what  is  meant  by  a  needle 
and  by  the  North ;  and  he  may  believe  when  told 
that  a  magnetic  needle,  properly  poised,  will  point 
to  the  North,  although  the  wit  of  man  has  hitherto 
failed   to   invent   a   plausible   explanation  how  this 
happens.     Man  is,  then,  capable  of  believing  truths 
which  come  to   him    on   sufficient   authority,  even 
when  he  does  not  see  their  intrinsic  reasonableness. 
(See  further,  n.  323.) 

18.  Mode  of  Revelation.- — Nor  is  it  impossible  for 
God  to  communicate  with  man ;  to  say  otherwise 
would  be  to  deny  to  the  Creator  a  power  which  is 
possessed  by  the  creature.  Man  is  capable  of  com- 
municating with  his  fellow-man,  and  this  by  means 
not  of  natural  signs  alone,  but  also  by  arbitrary 

C  VOL.  I. 


1 8  THE   NATURE  OF  REVELATION.  [i* 

signs,  such  as  language.  The  origin  of  this  power 
is  unknown  to  us,  but  its  existence  is  proved  by 
every  day's  experience.  There  is,  therefore,  nothing 
to  prevent  God,  if  He  pleases,  communicating  with 
us;  and  we  must  not  call  this  in  doubt  merely 
because  we  do  not  see  how  it  is  done. 

St.  Thomas  (Summa  Theol.  I.  q.  in,  a.  I.  and 
2.  2.  q.  172,  a.  2.)  teaches  that  revelations  are  brought 
from  God  to  man  through  the  ministry  of  angels. 
The  various  modes  that  are  recorded  to  have  been 
employed  are  collected  by  St.  Augustine  in  a  sermon 
which  is  sometimes  called  his  i2th,  on  Scripture, 
sometimes  his  i6th,  de  Diversis.  (P.L.  38,  102.)  He 
puts  the  Holy  Scripture  in  the  first  place  as  contain- 
ing messages  to  us  from  God  ;  but  the  same  purpose 
may  be  served  in  several  other  ways.  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  power  of  communicating  with 
another  involves  the  power  of  making  that  other 
know  from  whom  the  communication  comes,  for 
the  gift  of  language  would  be  useless  to  me  if  I 
could  not  ensure  my  friend  knowing  that  what  he 
hears  is  my  voice,  and  not  the  voice  of  a  stranger, 
or  perhaps  the  soughing  of  the  wind.  Mistakes  are 
possible,  but  they  are  exceptional ;  and  so  also, 
Divine  revelations  may  be  given  but  not  recognized 
as  such,  or  their  existence  may  be  imagined  without 
sufficient  ground ;  but  regularly  the  truth  will  be 
known. 

19.  Revelation,  why  necessary. — It  is  conceivable 
that  God  might  have  so  disposed  the  world  that 
there  should  be  no  need  for  Revelation  :  He  might 
have  assigned  to  man  an  end  which  would  have 


ig]  REVELATION.   WHY   NECESSARY.  ig 


been  within  his  reach  without  requiring  the  know- 
ledge of  Divine  mysteries.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  end  for  which  man  is  destined  surpasses  his 
natural  powers,  as  will  be  shown  in  its  proper  place. 
And  this  is  a  great  benefit  to  man,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  high  destiny  that  is  placed  within 
his  reach,  but  also  because  the  method  of  guidance 
by  the  revelation  of  mysteries  is  specially  suited  to 
man's  mental  nature.  Man  has  a  constant  natural 
craving  to  know  something  of  the  secrets  of  God, 
and  this  craving  is  satisfied  by  the  Christian  Revela- 
tion, for  the  contemplation  of  its  truths  has  afforded 
full  employment  to  some  of  the  greatest  intellects 
that  the  world  has  seen :  to  St.  Augustine,  St.  Anselm, 
and  St.  Thomas.  When  this  revelation  is  rejected, 
men  endeavour  to  satisfy  their  craving  by  such 
means  as  they  think  suitable  :  this  is  proved  by  the 
devotion  of  the  Neo-Platonists  of  the  fourth  century 
to  magic,  and  of  the  Priscillianists  to  astrology  m 
the  fifth :  this  art  was  cultivated  by  the  votaries  of 
revived  paganism  at  the  time  of  the  Renaissance, 
among  whom  also  the  study  of  the  Cabbala  found 
favour.  During  the  excesses  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion these  modes  of  seeking  to  pry  into  mysteries 
had  great  vogue ;  and  in  our  own  time,  men  seek  to 
replace  Christianity  by  Esoteric  Buddhism,  Spiritism, 
and  the  like.  Further,  all  instruction  necessarily 
begins  with  an  exercise  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
pupil,  who  accepts  much  that  he  cannot  understand 
simply  upon  the  authority  of  the  teacher :  and 
unless  he  do  this  heartily,  he  will  make  little 
progress,  as  will  be  seen  if  we  consider  the  process 


20  THE   NATURE  OF   REVELATION.  [19 

of  teaching  the  beginning  of  any  art  or  science. 
Man  on  earth  is  beginning  to  learn  a  lesson  which 
he  is  destined  to  know  perfectly  in  the  world  beyond 
the  grave :  the  boast,  therefore,  of  Rationalists  of 
all  ages  that  they  believe  nothing  upon  mere  autho- 
rity is  false  in  fact  as  well  as  unreasonable  in  theory. 
This  is  excellently  pointed  out  by  St.  Augustine,  in 
his  book,  De  Utilitate  Credendi  (P.L.  42,  63 — 92), 
directed  against  the  Manicheans,  the  Rationalists 
of  his  day,  and  his  arguments  are  still  applicable. 
Especially  he  insists  that  the  Christian  Revelation 
does  not  call  upon  men  to  believe  absurdities,  which 
important  point  calls  for  illustration.  No  part  of  it 
is  contradictory  to  any  other  part,  or  to  any  truth 
which  our  intellect  perceives  to  be  certain  and 
necessary,  (n.  322.)  Apparent  cases  of  the  kind  are 
met  with,  but  they  will  be  found  on  examination  to 
depend  either  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  the  true 
doctrine,  or  upon  a  hasty  assumption  that  what  is 
ordinarily  true  is  true  necessarily,  so  as  not  to  admit 
an  exception  even  by  miracle.  For  instance,  our 
experience  shows  us  that  each  substance  is  regularly 
accompanied  by  its  own  set  of  accidents,  but  no 
man  can  ever  prove  that  this  is  necessarily  so ;  and 
thus  the  doctrine  that  in  the  Blessed  Eucharist  the 
Body  of  Christ  exists  under  the  accidents  of  bread, 
does  not  contradict  any  known  truth,  but  merely 
furnishes  an  exception  to  the  rule  which  is  found  to 
be  ordinarily  observed.  We  decline  to  discuss  the 
supposition  of  a  Divine  revelation  being  given  which 
contradicts  a  known  truth,  for  this  supposition  is 
impossible,  (n.  322.)  God  cannot  contradict  Himself, 


ig]  REVELATION,   WHY  NECESSARY.  21 

whether  He  speaks  by  nature  or  by  revelation  ;  and 
any  communication  which  purported  to  be  a  revela- 
tion would  be  at  once  discredited  if  it  were  shown 
to  contradict  known  truth.  In  the  words  of  the 
Vatican  Council  (fourth  chapter  of  the  First  Consti- 
tut:on),  "Although  Faith  be  above  Reason,  yet 
between  Faith  and  Reason  there  never  can  be  true 
variance."  (Denz.  1645.)  Lastly,  we  may  conjecture 
that  God  chose  this  way  of  training  men  by  the 
revelation  of  mysteries  in  order  to  help  them  in 
combating  pride,  which  refuses  to  take  the  humble 
position  of  a  learner,  as  well  as  disclaims  all  sub- 
jection to  law,  and  thus  is  the  source  of  all  the 
sins  that  are  committed. 

20.  Recapitulation. -«-We'have  seen  in  this  chapter 
that  Christianity  claims,  and  has  always  claimed  to 
be  a  supernatural  religion :  we  have  explained  the 
nature  of  mysteries,  and  have  shown  that  Revelation 
is  possible  and  suited  to  our  nature.  As  will  be 
remembered  (n.  15),  we  have  throughout  assumed 
provisionally  the  being  and  providence  of  God,  the 
discussion  of  which  will  hate  place  in  our  second 
volume. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CREDENTIALS  OF   REVELATION. 

21.  Subject    of   the    Chapter. — In    the    following 
chapter  we  shall  explain  the  nature  of  Revelation, 
and    show   how   its   existence  can   be   attested    by 
miracles  and  prophecies. 

22.  Private  Revelations. — We  have  seen   (n.    18) 
that  God  can  speak  to  His  creature  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  the  recipient  of  the  communication  in 
no  doubt  as  to  the  Source  from  which  it  comes; 
but  such  communications  are  exceptional,  and  do 
not  now  concern  us,  unless  they  are  intended  to  be 
published  and  to  command  the  acceptance  of  other 
persons.     It  belongs  to  Mystic  Theology  to  discuss 
the  precautions  to  be  observed   in  order  to  guard 
against    delusion    in    these    cases;    while    Ascetic 
Theology  discusses  the  continually  occurring  cases 
where  the  Creator  speaks  to  His  creatures,  truly, 
but  in  a  way  which  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish 
from  the  thoughts  that  are  generated  by  the  natural 
power  of  the  mind.     Those  Divine  communications 
which  are  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  recipient 
alone,  need  no  public  credentials. 

23.  Public  Revelations. — Hut  it  is  quite  otherwise 
with   Public  Revelations,  the  name  given  to  those 


«3]  PUBLIC  REVELATIONS.  *$ 

Revelations  which  are  received  by  one  person,  but 
are  intended  to  be  communicated  by  him  to  others, 
and  to  command  their  submissive  acceptance.  This 
submission  cannot  reasonably  be  demanded  unless 
the  person  who  claims  the  character  of  a  Divine 
messenger  produce  full  proof  that  he  has  warrant 
for  his  claim.  Belief  in  every  message  that  purports 
to  come  from  God,  without  proof  that  the  messenger 
is  neither  deceiver  nor  deceived,  so  far  from  being 
a  duty  or  even  a  virtue,  may  easily  be  a  sin  of 
imprudence ;  as  true  a  sin,  though  not  as  great  a  sin, 
as  that  of  the  man  who  rejects  a-message  that  comes 
to  him  from  God  through  a  messenger  who  shows 
such  proofs  of  his  authority  as  cannot  prudently  be 
called  in  question. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  any  mode  in  which  such  a 
messenger  could  be  accredited,  except  Miracles  and 
Prophecies,  and  the  Christian  Revelation  claims  to 
be  accredited  by  these  means.  We  must,  therefore, 
proceed  to  consider  the  nature  of  Miracles,  the 
possibility  of  recognizing  them,  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  afford  proof  that  a  revelation  is  truly 
Divine.  The  same  points  will  also  be  considered  in 
regard  to  Prophecies. 

In  this  part  of  our  subject,  as  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  we  postulate  the  existence  of  God,  the 
all-perfect  Creator  of  the  universe.  The  justice  of 
this  postulate  will  be  vindicated  hereafter. 

24.  Nature  of  Miracle. — The  nature  of  what  is 
meant  by  Miracle  will  be  best  understood  by  an 
example.  We  will  make  a  supposition  which  we  do 
not  at  present  assert  to  have  ever  been  realized ;  we 


a4  CREDENTIALS  OF  REVELATION,  F«4 

put  it  as  a  supposition  which  no  one  can  show  to  be 
impossible ;  it  involves  no  contradiction.  Suppose 
then  that  an  adult  man  who  has  been  blind  from 
his  birth  meets  another  man,  who  says  to  him, 
Receive  your  sight,  and  at  this  mere  word  the 
power  of  vision  comes  on  the  instant  to  him  who 
had  been  blind.  Such  an  event  as  this  is  well 
calculated  to  excite  the  marvel  of  bystanders,  and 
of  all  who  learn  what  has  happened  ;  the  occurrence 
has  therefore  one  of  the  elements  that  go  to  con- 
stitute a  public  miracle.  It  is  marvellous. 

What  can  be  the  cause  of  this  man  having 
suddenly  gained  the  power  of  sight  ?  The  ordinary 
process  of  growth  gives  sight  to  some  animals,  such 
as  kittens  which  are  born  blind.  The  surgeon's 
knife  removes  a  cataract,  and  gives  or  restores  sight 
to  the  patient.  But  the  case  before  us  is  ascribable 
neither  to  natural  growth  nor  to  human  agency ;  it 
cannot  be  a  mere  coincidence  that  the  recovery  took 
place  at  the  very  instant  that  the  command  was 
received,  but  it  must  have  been  in  some  sense 
caused  or  occasioned  by  this  word.  But  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things,  no  such  effect  follows 
upon  words ;  the  occurrence  is  something  which  is 
out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  This  is  a 
second  element  in  the  idea  of  a  miracle. 

What  then  is  the  origin  of  this  event  ?  It  is 
neither  material  nor  human :  it  must,  therefore, 
either  come  directly  from  God  or  from  some 
spiritual  beings  other  than  those  through  whom,  as 
Christians  believe,  the  providence  of  God  is  exer- 
cised on  the  earth.  I  do  not  now  assert  the 


24]  NATURE  OF  MIRACLE.  25 

existence  of  such  spirits,  or  beings  distinct  from 
matter :  I  am  putting  all  conceivable  suppositions  ; 
but  no  one  can  show  that  the  existence  of  such 
spirits  is  impossible,  as  involving  a  contradiction, 
nor  that  the  Christian  belief  is  false,  according  to 
which  some  of  these  spirits  are  good,  and  act 
according  to  directions  received  from  God  ;  others 
bad,  who  are  permitted  by  Him  to  exercise  some 
part  of  their  natural  power ;  others  perhaps  neither 
good  nor  bad,  in  any  marked  degree,  but  who  if 
they  exist  must  for  our  purpose  reckon  as  bad. 
Since  good  spirits  act  as  ministers  of  God,  their 
action  may  be  spoken  of  as  His ;  and  therefore 
we  may  say  that  such  an  occurrence  as  we  have 
supposed  must  be  the  work  either  of  God  or  of  evil 
spirits ;  and  if  the  incident  stand  alone,  we  can  say 
no  more  about  it ;  it  may  be  a  Divine  work,  but  we 
cannot  say  that  it  certainly  is  such,  for  want  of  full 
knowledge  of  the  powers  which  evil  spirits  are 
allowed  to  exercise.  We  cannot  be  sure  that  what 
has  occurred  is  a  miracle  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
word ;  it  may  be  the  work  of  God,  but  we  cannot 
be  sure  that  it  is  so ;  it  may  be  supernatural,  but  it 
may  also  be  merely  preternatural. 

25.  Moral  Miracles  and  Miracles  of  Grace. — The 
incident  which  we  have  been  discussing,  if  a  miracle 
at  all,  is  a  miracle  in  the  physical  order:  it  concerns 
a  material  object,  a  man's  eye.  But  we  may  make 
another  supposition,  again  without  asserting  more 
than  its  possibility  ;  we  do  not  here  say  that  it  ever 
was  verified.  Suppose  a  whole  population  devoted 
to  practices  the  most  attractive  to  human  nature, 


«6  CREDENTIALS  OF  REVELATION.  [25 

suddenly  to  abandon  these  practices,  at  the  word  of 
a  preacher,  and  to  embrace  a  life  full  of  incidents 
most  repulsive  to  that  nature ;  and  further,  to  per- 
severe in  this  way  of  living  even  though  all  who 
were  detected  as  belonging  to  the  association  were 
put  to  death  amid  horrible  torments.  If  this 
happened,  we  should  say  it  was  something  out  of 
accord  with  the  ordinary  course  of  human  conduct ; 
it  would  be  a  marvel  calling  for  explanation,  no  less 
than  the  grant  of  sight  to  the  blind  man,  and  it 
cannot  be  an  effect  in  ordinary  course  of  the 
preacher's  word.  It  must  be  either  a  moral  miracle 
or  possibly  the  work  of  an  evil  spirit. 

Further,  Christians  believe  that  God  ordinarily 
grants  to  men  a  certain  measure  of  the  peculiar 
influence  called  Grace,  but  that  He  sometimes  may 
grant  this  favour  in  an  altogether  extraordinary 
abundance ;  they  therefore  speak  of  miracles  of 
grace,  as  when  a  person  embraces  the  true  religion 
under  circumstances  of  peculiar  difficulty.  Christians 
may  often  notice  cases  which  seem  to  be  miracles  of 
grace  in  this  sense,  but  the  matter  is  always  involved 
in  considerable  obscurity,  so  that  miracles  of  this 
class  will  seldom  or  never  be  capable  of  serving  as 
credentials  for  a  preacher,  especially  as  their  very 
possibility  postulates  much  which  cannot  be  proved 
until  the  whole  Christian  Revelation  is  established. 
It  is  otherwise  with  moral  miracles,  which  are 
often  less  open  to  cavil  than  those  of  the  physical 
order. 

26.  Probative  Force.  —  So  far  we  have  been 
regarding  the  extraordinary  occurrence  as  standing 


a6]  PROBATIVE  FORCE.  vj 

alone.  Now  suppose,  what  is  certainly  possible, 
that  the  man  whose  word  was  followed  by  the  gift 
of  sight,  went  on  to  declare  that  he  was  a  messenger 
sent  by  God,  and  that  God  had  granted  sight  to  the 
blind  man  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  this 
mission  had  His  sanction.  What  now  is  the 
position  of  a  bystander,  or  of  one  who,  though  not 
himself  present,  receives  an  authentic  account  of 
what  has  occurred  ?  Are  they  to  accept  the  message 
as  the  voice  of  God,  and  order  their  lives  in 
accordance  with  it  ?  Not  necessarily.  Prudence 
requires  that  they  should  look  carefully  into  the 
matter;  it  would  not  be  right  to  recognize  the 
messenger  as  a  Divine  teacher  without  further 
consideration,  any  more  than  it  would  be  prudent 
and  right  to  neglect  his  claim  altogether.  The 
matter  demanded  inquiry.  This  inquiry  will  be 
directed  to  the  question  whether  the  message  which 
purports  to  be  a  revelation,  in  any  respect  con- 
tradicts what  is  already  known  of  the  mind  of  God, 
either  as  He  speaks  in  nature,  or  by  previous 
ascertained  revelations.  If  so,  the  new  revelations 
must  be  at  once  rejected,  as  St.  Paul  teaches 
(Galat.  i.  9) :  "  If  any  one  preach  to  you  a  gospel 
besides  that  which  you  have  received,  let  him 
be  anathema."  (See  also  Deut.  xiii.  I — 5.)  Either 
the  marvel  was  the  work  of  an  evil  spirit,  designed 
to  perplex  men  and  lead  them  from  the  truth,  or 
this  work  is  not  so  connected  with  the  message  as 
to  afford  sanction  to  it.  Thus  no  one  who  accepts 
the  Christian  Revelation  can  hesitate  whether  it  is 
a  duty  or  even  allowable  to  listen  to  the  messages 


28  CREDENTIALS  OF  REVELATION.  [aft 

which  are  conveyed  to  men  by  spirit-rapping. 
These  rappers  uniformly  deny  the  existence  and 
eternity  of  Hell,  and  so  they  contradict  a  reve- 
lation which  God  has  already  made ;  so  far,  there- 
fore, as  these  indications  are  not  mere  trickery, 
they  come  from  evil  spirits.  This  negative  test 
will  generally  be  sufficient,  and  perhaps  all  grounds 
for  rejecting  the  claim  of  the  messenger  can  be 
reduced  to  it ;  but  if,  after  due  inquiry,  no  reason 
is  discovered  for  refusing  to  admit  his  claim,  he 
must  be  received  as  a  messenger  from  God,  and 
his  message  adopted  as  the  rule  of  our  belief 
and  life.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  even  apart 
from  the  Divine  veracity,  it  is  impossible  that 
a  falsehood  should  ever  come  before  us  in  such 
guise  that  we  should  be  forced  to  regard  it  as 
truth,  (n.  313.)  God  does  not  suffer  us  to  be 
made  the  helpless  victims  of  the  malice  of  the 
devils  or  of  the  fraud  or  folly  of  men.  We  are 
never  necessitated  to  believe  a  lie,  as  would  be  the 
case  if  a  marvel  attesting  a  falsehood  came  before 
us  in  such  shape  that  we  could  not  help  regarding 
it  as  a  Divine  miracle. 

27.  Prophecies. — What  has  been  said  of  miracles 
is  easily  adapted  to  the  case  of  prophecies.  A  writer 
points  out  within  a  year  or  two  the  exact  date,  at 
least  some  two  centuries  after  his  time,  at  which  a 
child  was  to  be  born  who  should  by  his  influence 
revolutionize  the  world,  although  he  himself  was 
put  to  a  violent  death  by  his  enemies ;  if  all  this 
comes  about  at  the  proper  time,  we  feel  that 
no  human  intelligence  can  have  seen  so  far  into 


27]  PROPHECIES.  29 

the  future,  but  that  the  writer  must  have  been 
admitted  to  a  share  in  the  Divine  foreknowledge. 
The  probative  force  of  a  prophecy  is  of  the  same 
nature"  as  that  of  a  miracle. 

28.  Objections  to  Miracles.  —  So  far  we  have 
exhibited  the  proof,  belonging  properly  to  Philo- 
sophy, which  explains  the  doctrine  laid  down  by 
the  Vatican  Council  (Const,  i.  c.  iii.  on  Faith, 
and  the  fourth  of  the  corresponding  Canons),  that 
miracles  are  possible  and  that  they  can  some- 
times be  known  by  us.  (Denz.  1639.)  It  is  hardly- 
necessary  to  quote  passages  of  Scripture  to  show 
that  this  doctrine  is  part  of  the  Christian  Revela- 
tion. It  is  enough  to  refer  as  to  miracles  to 
St.  John  x.  37,  38,  where  Christ  says,  "  If  I  do  not 
the  work  of  My  Father,  believe  Me  not :  but  if  I  do, 
though  you  will  not  believe  Me,  believe  the  works ; " 
and  for  prophecy,  to  Deut.  xviii.  18 — 22,  where  we 
see  that  prophecy  has  for  a  principal  purpose  to 
accredit  a  messenger,  and  not  so  much  to  forewarn 
as  to  the  future. 

An  immense  number  of  difficulties  have  been 
raised  against  this  doctrine  of  the  possibility  of 
miracles,  their  cognoscibility  and  their  probative 
force,  most  of  which,  however,  disappear  when 
applied  to  a  concrete  instance  such  as  we  have 
supposed.  The  matter  is,  as  will  be  readily  under- 
stood, of  first-rate  importance,  and  much  light  is 
thrown  upon  it  by  the  solution  of  the  difficulties  that 
have  been  raised;  we  will  therefore  devote  a  chapter 
to  the  discussion  of  the  different  forms  that  these 
difficulties  have  t^-en. 


30  CREDENTIALS  OF  REVELATION.  [29 

29.  Recapitulation. — In  the  present  chapter  we 
have  distinguished  between  public  and  private 
revelation,  and  said  that  public  revelations  must 
be  attested  by  miracles  and  prophecies ;  the'se  are 
shown  to  be  possible,  to  be  sometimes  recognizable, 
and  to  have  force  to  accredit  one  who  claims  to  be 
a  Divine  messenger. 


CHAPTER   III. 

DIFFICULTIES    AGAINST    MIRACLE    AND    PROPHECY. 

30.  Subject   of  Chapter. — The    difficulties   which 
are  raised  against  the  possibility  of  Miracles  admit 
of  a  four-fold  classification.     The  varieties  of  form 
that  may  be  given  to  each  class  of  objection  are 
infinite;  we  here  point  out  the  general  nature  of  the 
reply.       Certain    tests    of    true    miracles    will    be 
mentioned,  and  it  will  be  shown  that  a  sweeping 
denial   of  their  occurrence   at  the   present  day   is 
baseless. 

31.  Faith    and    Reason. — The    question    which 
engaged    us   in   the    last    chapter   is,  and    has   for 
some   three    centuries    been   the    principal    battle- 
ground between  those  who  acknowledge  and  those 
who    reject    the    claims    made    by    the    Christian 
Revelation.      If  miracles    and    prophecies  are  im- 
possible,  they  have   not  occurred ;    but  we  cannot 
conceive  a  revelation  demanding  the  absolute  sub- 
mission of  men,  if  it  be  not   accredited   by  these 
evidences :    hence,   if  they  be  impossible,  no  reve- 
lation can  do  more  than  set  before  men  a  system 
of  religious  doctrine  which  they  are  at  liberty  to 
discuss,    and    accept    or    reject    according    to   the 
judgment   which   their    reason    forms   of  its   value. 
The  term  Rationalist  is  applied  to  all  who  believe 


32  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &•  PROPHECY.   [31 

that  they  are  at  liberty  to  deal  in  this  way  \\ith 
the  Christian  Revelation.  It  is  a  misleading  word, 
because  it  seems  to  imply  that  this  school,  and 
they  alone,  follow  the  guidance  of  Reason,  while 
Christians  abandon  Reason  in  favour  of  some 
opposing  principle  or  faculty  called  Faith.  This 
is  an  utterly  false  representation.  A  Christian 
exercises  Faith  in  believing  the  truths  which  God 
has  revealed,  but  he  is  always  ready  to  obey  the 
Apostolic  precept  (i  St.  Peter  iii.  15),  and  give  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him.  In  fact,  he  holds 
it  to  be  most  irrational  to  refuse  to  accept  instruc- 
tion which  comes  from  a  competent  teacher,  unless 
it  recommend  itself  to  his  own  reason.  He  must 
use  his  reason  to  scrutinize  the  grounds  on  which 
he  believes  in  the  teacher's  competence,  and  if  any 
part  of  the  teaching  seem  to  contradict  what  he 
learns  from  his  reason,  he  must  examine  the  matter, 
;ind,  supposing  him  to  be  dealing  with  the  Christian 
Revelation,  he  will  find  that  the  contradiction  is  only 
apparent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  proofs  of  the 
existence  of  the  Christian  miracles  are  so  clear  and 
manifold  that  probably  they  are  felt  to  be  conclusive 
by  all  who  frankly  and  heartily  admit  the  possibility 
of  a  revelation  being  made  known  by  these  means. 
If  any  man  remain  unconvinced  when  the  reasons 
for  believing  the  miracles  that  attest  the  Christian 
Revelation  are  set  before  him,  it  will  generally  be 
found  that  this  man  does  not  really  believe  in  the 
possibility  of  miracles :  he  may  not  openly  deny 
this  possibility,  but  the  denial  is  lurking  in  his 
mind,  unsuspected  perhaps  by  himself,  and  effec* 


31]  FAiTH   AND   REASON.  33 

tually  hinders  his  giving  fair  consideration  to  the 
historical  evidence,  of  the  falsehood  of  which  he  is 
convinced  beforehand. 

32.  Objections  to  Miracles  classified. — The  import- 
ance of  the  question  of  the  possibility  of  Miracles  is 
felt  on  all  sides,  and  as  may  be  expected,  the  litera- 
ture of  the  subject  is  very  large.  We  can  do  no  more 
in  this  place  than  give  the  briefest  sketch  of  different 
classes  of  difficulties  that  are  raised  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  Revelation,  with  indications  of  the  line  of 
answer.  The  precise  shape  that  the  objection  takes 
may  vary  indefinitely,  and  the  answer  would  require 
corresponding  modification.  Some  of  the  difficulties 
are  founded  on  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  mode  in 
which  He  governs  the  world  ;  others  on  the  difficulty 
of  attaining  certainty  as  to  past  events;  a  third 
class  urges  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  what 
occurrences  are  in  accordance  with  the  course  of 
nature ;  and  a  fourth  rests  on  the  possibility  of  the 
agency  of  evil  spirits.  We  will  treat  these  four 
classes  of  objection  separately,  but  first  we  remark 
that  we  by  no  means  maintain  that  Miracles  can 
always  be  recognized  with  certainty,  but  only  that 
they  can  sometimes  be  recognized.  The  person 
who  has  discerned  that  certain  Miracles  have 
actually  occurred  will  be  ready  to  recognize  the 
miraculous  character  in  other  events  which  would 
be  ambiguous  if  they  stood  by  themselves.  A  skilful 
connoisseur  who  has  studied  the  undoubted  works 
of  a  great  artist  will  certainly  recognize  his  hand  in 
some  newly  discovered  painting,  although  he  may 
be  wholly  unable  to  convey  to  others  the  conviction 

D  VOL.  I, 


34  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &•  PROPHECY.  [31 

which  he  feels :  so  a  Christian  may  feel  assured  of 
the  miraculous  character  of  an  occurrence  which  he 
would  never  dream  of  putting  forward  as  calculated 
to  convince  one  who  did  not  agree  with  him  as  to 
the  true  character  of  other  works  which  he  has  seen 
to  be  demonstrably  the  immediate  work  of  God. 
(See  n.  63.) 

33.  God  unchangeable. — The  first  class  of  objectors 
urge  that  God  is  unchangeable ;  that  in  creating  the 
universe  He  gave  it  fixed  laws  by  which  it  should 
be  regulated,  and  that  any  interference  with  these 
laws  implies  imperfection,  as  though  the  work  of 
the  Creator  required  patching,  to  meet  unforeseen 
emergencies. 

This  objection,  turning  on  the  immutability  of 
the  infinite  Being,  is  urged  with  at  least  as  much 
force  against  the  possibility  of  creation  as  against 
miracles,  and  it  receives  full  consideration  from 
philosophers  (see  Father  Boedder,  Natural  Theologv, 
422,  seq.)  and  theologians  in  the  proper  place.  It 
may  here  be  enough  to  say  that  when  God  work? 
a  miracle,  this  act  does  not  involve  any  interior 
change  in  Him:  the  unchanging  will  that  He  has 
had  from  all  eternity  is  manifested  outwardly,  and 
that  is  all:  He  can  be  called  by  the  new  name  of 
Miracle-worker,  but  to  receive  a  new  name  works 
no  interior  change  in  the  person  or  thing  to  whom 
it  is  applied. 

When  the  objector  speaks  of  the  unchanging 
laws  of  the  universe,  he  uses  a  phrase  which  is 
liable  to  mislead.  These  so-called  laws  are  nothing 
but  a  generalization  formed  by  the  human  mind  on 


33J  GOD   UNCHANGEABLE.  33 

observing  the  course  of  the  universe.  It  is  true  that 
this  is  ordinarily  uniform,  because  it  is  in  truth  the 
resultant  of  the  interaction  of  various  portions  of 
matter,  which  God  in  the  act  of  creating  endowed 
with  certain  powers,  and  which  exercise  these 
powers  as  long  as  He  pleases  to  conserve  them  in 
their  being.  If  this  conservation,  which  is  in  truth 
perpetual  creation,  were  withheld,  the  creature  would 
cease  to  exist,  it  would  fall  to  nothingness,  and  the 
result  might  have  the  characters  of  a  miracle :  but 
this  is  not  the  way  in  which  God  acts,  as  St.  Thomas 
teaches,  (i.  q.  104.  a.  4.)  Also,  a  miraculous  effect 
might  be  produced  if  God  exercised  again  His 
creative  power,  which  was  not  exhausted  by  the 
initial  act  which  brought  the  world  into  existence ; 
but  neither  is  this  likely  to  be  the  way  employed, 
for  probably  the  quantity  of  matter  in  the  world  has 
remained  unchanged,  without  increase  or  diminu- 
tion, since  the  beginning.  Physical  miracles  are 
therefore  to  be  referred  to  the  action  of  God  Himself, 
acting  either  immediately,  for  He  can  by  His  imme- 
diate action  do  whatever  He  ordinarily  does  through 
the  activity  of  second  causes  (St.  Thomas,  i.  q.  105. 
a.  2.) ;  or  more  probably  using  the  ministry  of  good 
angels,  through  whom  He  exercises  His  ordinary 
providence  over  the  world,  as  will  be  shown  in  its 
proper  place,  when  Creation  comes  before  us.  (See 
St.  Thomas,  i.  q.  no.  a.  i.) 

If  it  be  urged  that  such  action  of  immaterial 
beings  as  we  here  suppose  is  inconsistent  with  that 
principle  of  Conservation  of  Energy,  which  is  made 
the  basis  of  modern  physics,  we  answer  that  the 


,6  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIXACLE  *  PROPHECY.  [33 

proof  of  this  principle  is  found  in  an  induction 
from  the  results  of  experiment,  and  cannot  claim 
greater  accuracy  than  that  of  the  fundamental 
instruments,  the  balance,  pendulum,  and  the  like ; 
besides  which,  the  precise  physical  circumstances  of 
a  miracle  have  never  been  measured  with  the  care 
which  would  be  needed  to  test  the  question.  No 
rational  man  can  pretend  that  the  principle  is 
proved  in  such  a  sense  as  to  assure  us  that  no  man 
born  blind  ever  received  his  sight.  If  it  be  said 
that  if  the  balance  and  the  rest  were  properly 
applied  they  would  always  show  that  no  immaterial 
agent  ever  affects  man's  body,  this  is  a  mere 
unproved  assumption,  and  amounts  to  a  petitio 
principii.  It  may  be  said  with  equal  fairness  that 
the  presence  of  an  immaterial  agent  would  make 
itself  manifest,  if  the  opportunity  arose  of  test'ng 
the  matter ;  and,  experiment  being  out  of  the 
question,  there  is  no  means  of  deci  !ing  between 
these  conflicting  assertions. 

Lastly,  it  is  quite  a  misrepresentation  to  speak 
of  a  miracle  as  a  patching  up  of  an  order  which  has 
been  found  to  be  imperfect.  The  ordinary  course 
of  nature  is  good  in  its  place,  and  when  the  occasion 
arises  the  miracle  is  also  good  :  the  whole  has  been 
foreseen  and  fore-ordained  by  God  from  all  eternity, 
as  the  means  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of 
creation. 

34.  Testimony  untrustworthy. —  Secondly,  it  is 
objected  that  testimony  is  untrustworthy,  so  that 
we  can  never  be  sure  that  events  happened  in  past 
times  as  related.  Experience  often  shows  us  both 


34]  TESTIMONY   UNTRUSTWORTHY.  37 

that  testimony  is  false  and  that  miracles  do  not 
happen.  Every  religion  professes  to  be  founded  in 
miracles,  and  men  are  apt  to  believe  in  miracles 
without  ground. 

This  objector  will  scarcely  maintain  that  we  can 
never  be  certain  regarding  the  occurrence  of  events 
separated  from  us  by  distance  of  time.  To  profess 
to  feel  prudent  doubt  whether  an  English  King 
named  Charles  was  beheaded  in  Whitehall,  or  a 
Roman  Emperor  named  Julius  stabbed  in  the 
Senate  House  would  be  the  mere  bravado  of  scepti- 
cism ;  yet  no  one  who  does  not  make  this  profession 
can  deny  that  historical  events  may  be  known  with 
certainty:  much  else  may  be  uncertain,  but  some 
occurrences  cannot  reasonably  be  called  in  question. 
The  objection,  therefore,  proceeds  on  a  tacit  suppo- 
sition that  miraculous  narratives  are  more  difficult 
of  proof  than  others.  But  this  supposition  confounds 
two  things :  the  facts,  and  their  miraculous  character. 
Julius  Caesar  was  slain  on  the  I5th  of  March  in  a 
certain  year,  as  history  tells  us  with  certainty. 
History  also  tells  us  that  he  was  living  on  the  ist 
of  that  same  month  of  March,  for  his  contemporaries 
saw,  heard,  and  felt  him  on  that  day,  and  their 
experience  has  been  transmitted  to  us  with  certainty. 
Supposing  that  they  had  had  the  same  experience 
on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  this  experience  would 
have  taught  them  that  Julius  was  alive  on  that  day, 
and  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  transmission  to 
us  of  their  later  experiences  by  the  same  channels 
as  told  us  of  the  events  of  the  first  day.  That  the 
restoration  to  life  after  the  I5th  would  have  been 


38  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &-  PROPHECY,  [34 

miraculous  does  not  affect  the  possibility  of  our 
knowing  that  his  contemporaries  perceived  him  to 
be  dead  on  one  day,  and  to  be  alive  on  a  subsequent 
day.  History  does  not  precisely  record  a  miracle, 
but  only  records  the  sensible  facts  from  which  we 
conclude  that  a  miracle  was  worked.  We  admit 
that  testimony  is  sometimes  false,  and  that  miracles 
are  opposed  to  general  experience :  but  to  say  that 
they  are  opposed  to  universal  experience  is  gratui- 
tously to  assume  the  point  at  issue ;  and  to  deny 
that  testimony  may  sometimes  be  recognized  as 
truthful  is  not  the  part  of  a  reasonable  man.  That 
all  religions  profess  to  be  founded  on  miracles 
merely  shows  the  general  conviction  of  mankind 
that  miracles  are  possible ;  but  we  deny  that  any 
instance  can  be  produced  in  which  a  proved 
miracle  is  opposed  to  the  Christian  Revelation ; 
some  apparent  examples  to  the  contrary  will  be 
discussed  immediately.  The  proneness  of  men  to 
see  miracles  can  hardly  have  originated,  except  in 
some  undoubted  examples  coming  before  them, 
and  at  most  it  merely  shows  the  need  of  the 
greatest  caution  in  examining  the  testimony  before 
a  miracle  is  admitted. 

35.  Miraculous  character  doubtful. — The  third  class 
of  objections  rests  on  the  alleged  impossibility  of 
telling  whether  a  given  occurrence  is  beyond  the 
powers  of  nature :  there  may  be  mere  coincidence, 
or  fraud,  or  some  unknown  properties  of  matter  and 
of  the  human  frame  may  have  had  a  part  in  pro- 
ducing the  effect  observed.  Occurrences  may  seem 
miraculous  to  the  ignorant  which  a  wider  acquaint- 


€5]  MIRACULOUS  CHARACTER  DOUBTFUL.  39 

ance  with  nature  will  show  to  be  subject  to  fixed 
law. 

To  take  the  last  point  first,  we  admit  that 
circumstances  may  occur  in  which  savages  could 
not  prudently  refuse  to  admit  the  claim  of  a  stranger 
who  came  to  them  professing  to  be  a  messenger 
from  God,  and  exhibiting  in  proof  of  his  claim  a 
power  which  they  could  not  be  blamed  for  regarding 
as  imperative  upon  them,  whereas  in  truth  it  was  a 
natural  power  which  his  superior  knowledge  enabled 
him  to  wield.  There  are  stories  told  of  this  sort, 
where  an  eclipse  has  been  foretold  and  coming  to 
pass  has  led  the  ignorant  people  to  ascribe  to  some 
superhuman  enlightenment  what  is  really  nothing 
but  the  exhibition  of  elementary  knowledge  of  astro- 
nomy. In  these  cases,  the  assent  of  the  savages  is 
given  blamelessly,  although  it  could  be  withheld ; 
they  will  never  be  constrained  to  believe  falsehood ; 
just  as  in  the  possible  case  of  wonders  being  wrought 
by  evil  spirits,  as  we  shall  explain  presently. 

The  suggestion  of  coincidence  may  be  put  aside, 
in  such  a  case  as  we  chose  for  our  illustration :  it  is 
not  so  frequent  an  occurrence  that  men  blind  from 
birth  suddenly  gain  the  use  of  sight,  that  we  can 
call  it  a  mere  coincidence  if  this  happens  at  the 
instance  when  the  word  of  a  religious  preacher  falls 
upon  their  ear ;  and  no  suspicion  of  fraud  can 
attach  when  the  man  has  been  long  known  to  have 
been  blind,  and  the  occurrence  takes  place  in  the 
presence  of  watchful  and  powerful  enemies  of  the 
preacher.  Nor,  lastly,  can  it  be  suggested  with  any 
plausibility  that  the  words  spoken  had  a  natural 


40  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &•  PROPHECY.   ^33 

power  of  restoring  the  wasted  eye-balls.  In  this 
case  at  least  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  occur- 
rence is  superhuman. 

36.  Demonic  Agency.  —  The  three  groups  of 
objections  which  we  have  been  discussing  are 
those  which  have  chiefly  prevailed  in  modern  times : 
they  may  be  called  respectively  the  Pantheistic,  the 
Deistic,  and  the  Materialistic  objection — a  Deist 
being  understood,  according  to  English  usage,  to  be 
one  who  fully  admits  the  being  of  God,  but  denies 
the  existence  of  Revelation.  We  now  come  to 
discuss  the  Demonic  objection,  which  is  scarcely 
heard  of  at  the  present  day,  except  sometimes  when 
it  is  brought  up  ironically,  and  as  it  were  ad  hominem 
against  the  Christians,  but  which  in  former  times 
was  the  ground  ordinarily  alleged  for  neglecting  the 
evidence  of  miracles,  both  by  Jews  (St.  Matt.  ix.  34, 
and  many  other  passages  of  the  Gospels),  and  by 
heathen  persecutors,  as  in  the  case  of  St.  Januarius 
(Holland.  Acta  Sanctorum,  t.  6,  Sept.  873),  and  by 
heretics.  (Victor,  De  Persecutione  Vandalorum,  2,  17 ; 
P.L.  58,  217.)  The  point  of  the  difficulty  is  that 
since  evil  spirits  have  power  to  move  matter  and 
work  wonders  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature, 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  the  source  of  any  marvel  that 
we  meet  with,  or  to  know  whose  utterance  it 
accredits.  Moreover,  it  is  said  that  miracles  have 
been  wrought  by  heretics,  and  therefore  do  not 
attest  any 'one  form  of  Christianity,  but  various 
forms ;  they  therefore  attest  error. 

Certainly,  no  Christian  can  deny  the  action  of 
evil  spirits  in  the  world,  for  it  is  clearly  taught  in 


36]  DEMONIC   AGENCY.  41 

Scripture  (Exodus  vii.  22 ;  Acts  xvi.  16,  &c.),  as 
will  be  shown  fully  in  its  proper  place :  also,  the 
story  of  a  Novatian  Bishop  having  in  the  year  449 
worked  a  miracle  is  related  by  Socrates  (Hist.  Eccles. 
7,  17 ;  P.G.  67,  771),  and  cures  are  believed  to  have 
been  wrought  at  the  tomb  of  the  Jansenist  Abbe 
Paris,  who  died  in  1727.  But  the  defender  of 
the  Christian  miracles  as  exclusively  trustworthy, 
remarks  that  neither  heathen  nor  heretic  has 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  religion  on  the  basis 
of  miracles,  which  shows  that  there  was  always 
something  about  the  marvels  in  question  which 
distinguished  them  from  Divine  miracles ;  and  that 
this  is  in  accordance  with  what  might  be  expected 
upon  Christian  principles,  for  God  cannot  consis- 
tently with  His  Holiness  permit  men  to  be  invincibly 
led  to  believe  that  what  is  in  fact  error  is  the 
teaching  of  God  addressed  to  them.  (See  Exodus 
vii.  12.)  Further,  it  is  part  of  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation that  the  motives  leading  to  belief  should  not 
be  such  as  to  compel  assent,  but  only  such  as 
render  refusal  to  believe  evidently  wrong;  and 
Christ  Himself  declared  that  there  should  arise 
false  prophets  working  great  wonders  (St.  Matt, 
xxiv.  24),  so  that  if  nothing  of  the  sort  happened  we 
should  have  to  contend  with  a  serious  difficulty,  for 
a  prophecy  uttered  by  Christ  would  be  falsified.  As 
to  miracles  of  heretics,  those  ascribed  to  Paris  by 
no  means  abide  the  application  of  the  tests  by 
which  true  miracles  are  distinguished,  and  which 
are  enumerated  in  our  next  paragraph ;  and  we 
need  have  no  difficulty  in  admitting  the  truth  of  the 


42   DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &•  PROPHECY.   [36 

relation  in  Socrates,  although  it  is  hard  to  avoid 
the  suspicion  of  trickery.  According  to  the  story, 
a  scoundrel  of  a  Jew  (lovSaios  TIS  cnrareoav)  made 
his  living  by  pretending  to  become  a  Christian,  and 
being  baptized.  He  took  in  the  Arians  and  Mace- 
donians, and  then  offered  himself  to  the  Novatians, 
asking  Baptism  at  the  hands  of  Paul,  the  Bishop  of 
the  sect  at  Constantinople.  Paul  prescribed  a  course 
of  instruction  and  fasting,  which  quickened  the  cate- 
chumen's desire  for  the  Sacrament.  Paul  yielded, 
and  all  was  made  ready  for  the  ceremony,  when  the 
water  disappeared  unaccountably,  with  the  result 
that  the  fraud  of  the  Jew  became  known.  Thus  we 
see  that  the  miracle,  supposing  it  to  have  been  one, 
was  wrought  by  God  in  defence  of  the  sanctity  of 
holy  Baptism  ;  that  is,  of  truth,  and  not  of  Novatian 
error.  The  New  Testament  plainly  recognizes  that 
the  gift  of  miracles  is  not  confined  to  saints  (St.  Matt. 
vii.  22;  I  Cor.  xiii.  2),  and  St.  Jerome  teaches  that 
miracles  are  wrought  by  God  in  view  of  the  merits 
of  Christ,  and  not  of  the  man  who  is  said  to  work 
them.  (Comment,  in  loc.  St.  Matt.;  P.L.  26,  49.) 
This  doctrine  is  the  basis  of  the  teaching  of 
St.Thomas.  (2.  2.  q.  178.  a.  2.) 

37.  Criteria  of  Miracles. — It  is  worth  while  to  set 
down  the  points  insisted  on  by  Pope  Benedict  XIV. 
as  necessary  to  be  attended  to,  before  the  cure  of  a 
disease  can  be  admitted  to  have  been  miraculous : 
they  will  be  found  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the 
fourth  Book  of  the  great  work  De  Canonizatione. 
First,  the  disease  must  be  incurable,  or  at  least 
difficult  of  cure  :  then  it  must  not  have  reached  a 


37]  CRITERIA    OF  MIRACLES.  43 

stage  when  natural  cure  is  possibly  imminent : 
thirdly,  no  treatment  must  have  been  used  to  which 
the  cure  can  be  ascribed :  the  cure  must  be  sudden 
and  instantaneous :  it  must  be  perfect :  it  must  not 
have  been  attended  with  any  such  bodily  change  as 
might  be  a  natural  cause  of  the  cure :  and  lastly, 
the  disease  must  not  recur.  We  may  remark  that 
Pope  Benedict  seems  to  have  been  quite  alive  to  the 
nature  of  what  in  our  own  day  have  received  the 
name  of  "  faith-cures,"  when  the  mere  expectation 
of  a  cure  seems  to  suffice  to  fulfil  itself.  He  quotes 
(n.  29)  with  approval  a  writer  who  says  that  he  has 
known  many  cases  where  a  disease  has  disappeared 
on  the  approach  of  a  Religious  or  the  application  of 
a  relic,  but  has  subsequently  returned  with  greater 
violence  than  ever.  Such  cures,  of  course,  are  not 
miracles,  or  at  least  cannot  be  known  as  miracles. 
Paley  (Evidences  of  Christianity)  successfully  applies 
Benedict's  criteria  to  discredit  the  miracles  said  to 
have  been  wrought  at  the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris: 
but  the  learned  Archdeacon  seems  not  to  have  been 
aware  that  this  supposed  wonder-worker  was  a 
heretic.  Occurrences  are  met  with  which  have 
some  semblance  of  being  miraculous,  but  it  will 
generally  be  found  that  they  totally  fail  to  answer 
these  conditions ;  in  which  case,  whatever  may  be 
their  real  character,  we  cannot  feel  confident  that 
there  has  been  an  extraordinary  exercise  of  the 
Divine  power. 

38.  Have  Miracles  ceased  f — The  attempt  is  some- 
times made  to  throw  doubt  on  all  relations  of 
miracles  by  the  remark  that  nothing  gf  the  kind 


44   DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST  MIRACLE  &•  PROPHECY.   [38 

occurs  at  the  present  day.  The  reply  is  that  the 
whole  matter  is  in  the  hand  of  God,  and  that  we 
cannot  pretend  always  to  see  why  He  is  pleased 
to  act  in  a  particular  way  at  a  particular  time ; 
nevertheless,  if  the  fact  were  as  stated,  we  might 
conjecture  that  a  mode  of  accrediting  a  revelation 
which  was  suitable  when  that  revelation  was  first 
made  may  become  unsuitable  under  different  circum- 
stances ;  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  God's  provi- 
dence to  force  men's  consents,  and  the  disposition 
which  leads  them  to  refuse  acceptance  to  the  well- 
attested  miracles  of  the  old  time  would  enable  them 
to  evade  the  force  of  miracles  at  the  present  day : 
that  the  existence  of  the  Christian  Church,  though 
of  a  different  order,  is  more  persuasive  than  any 
physical  miracle  (see  n.  68) ;  and  that  the  assertion 
is  true  only  so  far  as  relates  to  miracles  publicly 
performed  in  great  cities,  like  Jerusalem  and  Rome, 
for  miracles  have  never  ceased  to  be  wrought,  and 
still  continue,  in  accordance  with  the  promise  of 
Christ.  (St.  Mark  xvi.  17,  18.)  This  point  will  be 
mentioned  again  when  we  speak  of  the  Holiness  of 
the  Church,  (nn.  235,  255.)  At  present,  it  is  enough 
to  refer  to  M.  Lasserre's  books  upon  Lourdes. 

39.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter,  we  have  dis- 
cussed four  classes  of  objection  to  miracles,  have 
pointed  out  some  criteria  of  assured  miracles,  and 
explained  how  far  it  is  true  that  public  miracles  do 
not  happen  now  with  the  same  abundance  as  in 
former  times. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   CHRISTIAN    EVIDENCES.      PHYSICAL   MIRACLES. 

40.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — Having  shown  the 
futility  of  the -grounds  that  are  sometimes  alleged 
as  proving  the  impossibility  of  miracles,  we  may 
hope  that  the  reasons  which  we  shall  now  proceed 
to  give  for  believing  that  they  have  actually  occurred 
will  be  received  without  prejudice.  We  shall  main- 
tain in  successive  chapters  that  the  Divine  Mission 
of  Christ  is  attested  by  miracles  of  the  physical 
order,  by  the  fulfilment  of  ancient  prophecies  and 
by  moral  miracles,  some  of  which  are  going  on  at 
the  present  day  before  our  eyes :  from  which  it  will 
follow  that  His  words  are  to  be  received  as  the 
words  of  God,  and  that  the  work  of  Theology  is 
to  ascertain  and  explain  His  teaching  and  that  of 
those  who  teach  in  His  Name  and  with  His 
authority. 

In  the  two  preceding  chapters  we  were  forced  to 
assume  that  the  reader  admitted  the  Being  and 
Attributes  of  God,  which  will  be  proved  hereafter. 
In  the  argument  of  this  and  the  following  chapters 
no  such  assumption  is  necessary,  for  we  shall  be 
concerned  with  purely  historical  questions,  and 
shall  use  the  ordinary  historical  arguments,  founded 


46  THE  CHRISTIAN    EVIDENCES.  [40 

on  documents,  tradition,  monuments,  and  institu- 
tions. We  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  question 
whether  the  documents  are  of  merely  human  origin, 
or  whether  they  are  of  a  different  nature  from  other 
histories.  All  that  will  come  in  its  place  hereafter. 
(Treatise  III.) 

41.  Early  Existence  of  the  Church.  Pliny. — Before 
entering  on  our  main  subject  it  is  well  to  point  out 
that  the  existence  of  the  Christian  Church  and  of 
the  mass  of  truths  and  moral  precepts  of  which  this 
Church  is  the  depository  and  guardian,  is  altogether 
beyond  dispute.  This  is  a  phenomenon  which  calls 
for  some  adequate  explanation,  but  none  such  is 
forthcoming  except  that  which  alleges  the  miracles 
of  Christ.  The  need  of  explanation  is  felt  more 
pressingly  when  it  is  remembered  how  very  short  a 
time  elapsed  after  the  death  of  Christ  before  His 
religion  had  become  the  profession  of  a  well-known 
organized  body.  This  is  not  known  from  Christian 
sources  alone,  but  can  be  proved  from  certain 
passages  in  heathen  writers.  For  instance,  the 
younger  Pliny  found  Christians  existing  in  great 
numbers  in  his  province  of  Bithynia.  It  was  about 
the  year  112  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  explaining  the  difficulty  he  felt  in  dealing 
with  the  cases  of  Christians  who  were^  brought 
before  him  ;  and  he  received  an  answer  from  the 
Emperor.  These  letters  are  numbered  96  and  97 
in  some  editions  of  the  correspondence;  in  other 
editions  they  are  97  and  98.  The  whole  is  most 
interesting,  and  well  repays  careful  study.  What 
concerns  us  is  to  observe  that  in  this  remote 


4i]  EARLY  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  47 

province  there  existed  a  community  of  Christians, 
numerous  and  organized.  Pliny  is  familiar  with  the 
name,  and  assumes  that  the  Emperor  is  equally 
familiar.  He  notices  the  Christian  practice  of 
assembling  on  a  particular  day  for  religious  worship, 
when  the  people  sang  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  God,  and 
bound  themselves  by  a  sacred  sanction  not  to  be 
guilty  of  theft  or  other  sins ;  after  which  they 
parted,  to  meet  again  and  share  in  a  meal  of  ordi- 
nary food.  They  had  among  them  female  officials 
whom  he  calls  Ministrae — deaconesses — whom  he 
tortured  without  eliciting  anything.  He  consults 
the  Emperor  as  to  the  course  to  be  adopted,  because 
he  had  never  been  present  at  trials  of  Christians, 
showing  us  that  he  knew  of  such  prosecutions  being 
in  use ;  and  the  matter  seems  to  him  to  be  of  grave 
importance  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  those 
concerned.  The  contagion  of  the  superstition  pre- 
vailed not  in  the  cities  alone,  but  had  penetrated  to 
the  villages  and  the  open  country :  the  temples  were 
deserted,  the  regular  sacrifices  discontinued :  there 
was  no  inducement  to  breed  beasts  to  be  sold  as 
victims.  There  were  some  who  avowed  that  they 
had  been  Christians  for  twenty  years :  and  all 
astonished  the  enlightened  Pagan  by  declaring  that 
there  was  no  evil  in  their  religious  practices,  and  by 
the  constancy  with  which  large  numbers  of  them 
persevered  in  defiance  of  torture  and  death. 

This  passage  certainly  proves  how  widespread 
was  the  Christian  profession  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  second  century ;  we  may  have  to  recur  to  it, 
:is  illustrating  other  points  of  our  subject.  The 


48  THE  CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES.  [41 

genuineness  of  the  correspondence  or  at  least  of 
this  part  of  it  has  been  disputed,  but  on  insufficient 
grounds.  See  a  dissertation  by  F.  Wilde  (Leyden, 
1889),  De  Plinii  et  Trajani  Epistolis  inutuis.  This 
author  discusses  the  whole  subject,  examining  all 
the  arguments  that  have  been  advanced  on  either 
side  of  the  controversy.  The  phrase  that  at  their 
meetings,  the  Christians  partook  of  ordinary  food, 
points  at  the  report  that  was  current  which  ascribed 
to  them  the  eating  of  human  flesh.  This  imputation 
of  cannibalism  arose  doubtless  from  some  indiscreet 
or  malicious  disclosure  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence. 

42.  Tacitus. — Pliny  tells  us  nothing  of  the  origin 
of  Christianity,  but  the  omission  is  supplied  by  a 
passage  from  the  Annals  of  his  contemporary, 
Tacitus:  it  is  found  in  the  forty-fourth  chapter  of  the 
fifteenth  Book.  The  historian  has  been  giving  an 
account  of  the  great  fire  that  happened  at  Rome 
in  the  year  64,  three  years  after  his  own  birth : 
and  he  relates  that  the  Emperor  Nero  came  under 
suspicion  of  having  purposely  caused  the  confla- 
gration ;  to  avert  which  suspicion,  he  tried  to  throw 
the  blame  on  certain  persons  "  whom  the  populace 
hated  for  their  crimes  and  called  by  the  name  of 
Christians.  This  name  is  derived  from  Christus, 
.Who  was  punished  by  the  procurator,  Pontius 
Pilatus,  during  the  reign  of  Tiberius.  The  execrable 
superstition  was  suppressed  for  a  time,  but  broke 
out  again,  and  overran  not  Judaea  alone,  the  country 
of  its  birth,  but  Rome  itself."  He  then  describes 
the  cruel  modes  in  which  death  was  inflicted, 


42]  TACITUS.  49 

on  a  sham  charge  of  incendiarism,  and  speaks  of 
the  "vast  multitude"  of  those  that  suffered,  remark- 
ing that  the  true  cause  of  their  death  was  not  the 
crime  of  fire-raising,  but  "  hatred  of  men  :  "  leaving 
it  doubtful  whether  he  means  that  the  Christians 
hated  mankind,  or  that  mankind  hated  the  Christians. 
The  former  meaning  seems  most  probable,  and  it 
may  be  noticed  that  Tacitus,  who  perhaps  was  never 
brought  in  contact  with  Christians,  speaks  of  them 
in  harsher  terms  than  Pliny,  who  had  personally 
examined  large  numbers  of  them.  At  presejit, 
however,  we  are  not  concerned  with  the  morals  of 
the  Christians,  but  with  the  proofs  of  the  early 
prevalence  of  the  religion. 

The  principal  point  to  observe  is  that  Tacitus 
speaks  undoubtingly  of  the  Christian  religion  as 
having  originated  in  Judaea  while  Pontius  Pilate 
was  procurator  there,  and  Tiberius  Emperor ;  that 
is  to  say,  somewhere  between  the  years  25  and  34 ; 
the  Founder  came  under  the  ban  of  the  Roman 
law :  and  nevertheless  within  a  space  of  between 
thirty  and  forty  years,  the  religion  had  so  spread  as 
to  count  an  immense  number  of  followers  in  the 
city ;  and  the  historian  tells  all  this  without  hesita- 
tion or  doubt,  showing  that  it  was  the  story  which 
was  current  in  the  mouths  of  men  with  whom  he 
himself  mixed,  on  whom  the  great  conflagration 
had  made  a  deep  impression.  This  rapid  spread  of 
a  religion,  in  spite  of  Government  power  and  mob 
prejudice,  requires  explanation. 

43.  The  Christian  and  other  accounts. — Christians 
are  prepared  with  an  account  which  is,  it  will  b§ 
K  VOL.  i. 


50  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [43 

admitted,  a  perfectly  sufficient  explanation,  if  only 
its  historical  character  is  established  :  a  task  to 
which  we  shall  now  address  ourselves.  Many  other 
explanations  have  been  suggested  from  time  to  time, 
which  have  had  some  vogue  for  a  while  and  then 
have  been  laid  aside  as  insufficient.  Another  place 
will  be  found  for  such  account  of  these  attempts  as 
is  necessary  for  our  purpose.  (See  n.  68.)  At  present 
it  is  enough  to  notice  that  the  Christian  story  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  Christian  religion  stands  alone  in 
having  been  received  by  millions  of  men  throughout 
a  long  succession  of  centuries. 

44.  Acknowledged  Christian  writings. — There  has 
been  and  is  considerable  controversy  about  the  date 
to  which  the  earliest  Christian  writings  are  to  be 
ascribed.  But  there  are  some  which  are  acknow- 
ledged by  writers  the  least  inclined  to  admit  that 
a  revelation  has  been  given :  scarcely  any  writer  of 
the  least  credit  at  the  present  day  doubts  that  the 
Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians  and  two  to 
the  Corinthians  were  actually  written  by  a  man 
named  Paul,  and  were  addressed  to  communities 
of  Christians  who  had  been  recently  converted  by 
his  preaching,  or  whom  he  proposed  shortly  to  visit, 
(i  Cor.  i.  i* — 17;  2  Cor.  x.  14;  Galat.  iv.  n; 
Romans  xv.  22 — 24.)  The  authenticity  of  these 
four  Epistles  is  admitted  practically  by  every  writer, 
as  is  attested  by  Davidson  (Introduction  to  New 
Testament,  vol.  i.  pp.  41,  62,  85,  116.  Edit.  1882), 
\\ho  can  be  fully  trusted  on  such  a  point,  and  who 
gives  copious  references  to  ancient  authorities  \\hich 
leave  no  room  for  doubt  uuon  the  matter. 


44]  ACKNOWLEDGED  CHRISTIAN    WRITINGS.  51 

These  four  Letters  contain  much  that  is  difficult 
to  understand,  even  in  regard  to  history,  and  still 
more  on  matters  of  doctrine.  One  chief  reason 
of  the  difficulty  is  this :  a  person  writing  a  letter 
always  has  in  his  mind  the  particular  circumstances 
of  his  correspondent,  and  remembers  what  has 
occurred  during  their  previous  intercourse ;  he  is 
apt  therefore  to  use  expressions  and  to  make 
allusions  which  will  be  readily  understood  by  those 
for  whose  reading  the  piece  is  primarily  intended, 
but  will  be  obscure  and  in  danger  of  being  totally 
misunderstood  by  others  who  know  no  more  than 
they  can  gather  from  the  writing  before  them.  On 
the  other  hand,  letters  of  this  kind  are  peculiarly 
trustworthy  as  often  as  the  stranger  can  gather  what 
is  the  posture  of  affairs  which  the  writer  assumes  to 
be  familiarly  known  :  there  is  little  risk  of  being 
deceived,  for  it  would  be  beyond  the  skill  of  the 
most  skilful  forger  to  insert  references  of  this  kind 
without  detection.  We  may  therefore  feel  con- 
fidence that  we  are  correctly  informed  as  to  such 
parts  of  the  career  of  St.  Paul  as  are  referred  to  in 
these  four  Letters,  and  that  the  substance  of  his 
preaching  actually  was  such  as  we  there  find. 

Now,  it  is  impossible  to  read  these  Epistles 
without  seeing  that  the  writer  preached  a  religion, 
the  Founder  of  which  was  Jesus  Christ  (i  Cor.  iii.  n), 
Who  was  crucified  (i  Cor.  i.  23),  and  Wnom  God 
raised  from  the  dead.  (Romans  i.  4.)  In  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  he 
sketches  the  main  features  of  his  preaching,  expressly 
saying  that  Christ  died  and  was  buried,  and  rose 


12  THE  CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES.  [44 

again  on  the  third  day  and  was  seen  by  large 
numbers  of  persons,  especially  by  the  Apostles,  (vv. 
i — 7.)  His  preaching,  he  says,  is  vain  if  Christ 
rise  not  (v.  14) ;  and  he  even  claims  to  have  himself 
seen  the  risen  Christ  (v.  8,  and  I  Cor.  ix.  i),  and 
to  have  received  instructions  direct  from  Him. 
(Galat.  i.  12.)  The  references  on  these  points,  as 
well  as  on  some  that  follow,  might  be  multiplied 
almost  indefinitely,  as  will  be  plain  to  any  reader 
of  the  Epistles :  we  merely  give  a  few  to  indicate 
the  kind  of  evidence  on  which  we  insist. 

Further,  we  learn  that  the  writer  of  these  Letters 
was  a  man  of  conspicuous  ability,  as  their  whole 
structure  shows.  He  had  formerly  been  a  Jew,  and 
most  zealous  in  that  religion,  his  zeal  leading  him 
to  take  an  active  part  in  persecuting  the  Church  of 
Christ  (Galat.  i.  13) ;  at  present,  instead  of  perse- 
cuting, he  was  persecuted,  leading  a  life  of  hardship 
and  danger  (2  Cor.  xi.  23 — 27),  and  incessantly 
harassed  by  the  cares  involved  in  the  work  he  had 
undertaken.  (2  Cor.  xi.  28.)  He  made  this  boast 
unwillingly;  it  was  forced  from  him  by  the  necessity 
of  asserting  his  authority  against  some  who  were 
inclined  to  dispute  it.  (2  Cor.  xi.  21.)  Such  a  boast 
would  have  ruined  the  boaster,  had  not  the  facts 
to  which  he  appealed  been  acknowledged  by  all. 
From  all  this  it  follows  that  it  is  impossible  to 
dispute  his  sincerity  when  he  declared  that  he  held 
a  commission  from  One  Who  had  been  dead  and 
Who  rose  again  from  the  dead. 

What  were  the  grounds  of  his  conviction  ?  We 
have  seen  that  he  declares  himself  to  have  received 


44]          ACKNOWLEDGED  CHRISTIAN   WRITINGS.  53 

his  commission  direct  from  Christ,  or  that  he  had 
seen  his  Master  living:  but  as  it  does  not  appear 
from  these  Epistles  that  he  had  previously  seen 
Him  dead,  we  cannot  show  that  he  had  personal 
knowledge  of  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead  on  which  he  laid  such  stress.  But  he  was 
contemporary  of  some  who  had  this  personal  know- 
ledge (i  Cor.  xv.  6),  and  of  some  whom  he  calls 
"  great "  Apostles  (2  Cor.  xi.  5),  who  were  regarded 
by  some  as  being  entitled  to  the  name  of  Apostles 
in  a  higher  sense  than  that  in  which  St.  Paul  could 
claim  it,  and  who,  as  he  acknowledges,  were 
Apostles  before  him  (Galat.  i.  17),  and  there  is  no 
trace  of  his  holding  any  doctrine  as  to  the  Resur- 
rection different  from  that  of  the  rest  of  Christians. 
St.  Paul  had  therefore  the  opportunity  of  inquiring 
into  the  grounds  on  which  this  fundamental  belief 
was  held ;  and  unless  he  was  unwise  beyond  the 
possibility  of  human  unwisdom,  he  must  have  used 
his  opportunities,  and  satisfied  himself  that  some 
of  those  around  him  had  seen  the  Lord  dead  and 
had  afterwards  seen  Him  alive.  Thus  the  reality  of 
the  great  basic  miracle  of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ 
can  be  proved  from  those  four  of  the  Epistles  which 
are  recognized  on  all  hands  as  genuine. 

45.  The  Four  Gospels. — These  four  Epistles  are 
not  rejected  by  any  opponent  of  whom  we  need  take 
account ;  but  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  some 
others  of  what  Christians  maintain  to  be  among 
the  earliest  documents  relating  to  their  religion ; 
especially  it  cannot  be  said  of  those  four  sketches 
of  parts  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Christ  which 


54  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [45 

we  call  the  Gospels.  But  in  spite  of  opposition 
we  maintain  that  it  can  be  proved  with  absolute 
certainty  that  these  Gospels  were  written  by  persons 
who  were  contemporary  with  the  events  that  they 
record,  and  who  had  full  opportunities  of  ascertain- 
ing the  truth  of  what  they  related,  and  who  were 
not  guilty  of  wilful  deception.  If  these  points  be 
made  out,  the  historic  truth  of  the  Gospel  history 
follows,  and  this  contains  a  number  of  undeniably 
miraculous  events  by  which  the  authority  of  Christ 
as  a  Divine  messenger  is  attested. 

46.  Gospel  Miracles. — It  will  not  be  seriously 
denied  that  the  writers  of  the  Gospels  ascribe  to 
Christ  the  doing  of  some  works  that  are  above  the 
power  of  nature.  Thus,  such  cures  as  that  of  the 
Centurion's  servant  (St.  Matt.  viii.  5 — 13  ;  St.  Luke 
vii.  i — 10),  and  of  the  Ruler's  son  (St.  John  iv.  46 
— 54),  admit  of  no  natural  explanation,  it  being 
remarked  that  the  sick  person  was  at  a  distance,  so 
that  confident  expectation  could  have  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  result ;  the  multiplication  of  loaves 
and  fishes,  on  two  occasions,  one  related  by  all 
the  Evangelists  (St.  Matt.  xiv.  14 — 21 ;  St.  Mark  vi. 
34 — 44  ;  St.  Luke  ix.  12 — 17  ;  St.  John  vi.  i — 13), 
the  other  by  St.  Matthew  (xv.  32 — 38)  and  St.  Mark 
(viii.  i — 8),  and  the  calming  the  tempest  (St.  Matt, 
viii.  23 — 27  ;  St.  Mark  iv.  37 — 40 ;  St.  Luke  viii.  22 
—25),  certainly  surpassed  all  natural  power ;  still 
more  is  the  same  true  of  the  restoration  to  life  of 
the  young  man  at  Nairn  (St.  Luke  vii.  n — 17), 
where  the  suggestion  of  fraud  is  now  rejected  by 
all  critics,  as  inconsistent  with  the  whole  life  of  the 


46]  GOSPEL   MIRACLES.  55 

Worker  of  the  miracle*;  and  of  Lazarus  (St.  John  xi. 
I — 53),  where  we  see  that  the  wonder  was  accom- 
plished under  the  eyes  of  unfriendly  critics,  as  was 
very  specially  the  case  also  in  the  instance  of  the 
miracle  of  the  man  born  blind  (St.  John  ix.  i — 34) ; 
and  the  great  miracle  of  all,  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ,  is  eminently  of  the  same  character :  it 
is  attested  in  the  closing  chapters  of  all  the 
Gospels. 

47.  Miracles  as  Credentials. — It  is  hardly  necessary 
to   quote   passages   to   show   that  these   wonderful 
works  were  regarded  by  the  people  who  saw  them, 
and  by  the  writers  of  the  Gospels,  as  proofs  of  the 
Divine    Mission   of  Christ.      This    is   seen    in   the 
narrative  in  St.  Matt.  xvi.  i,  St.  Mark  viii.  n,  and 
St.  Luke  xi.  16,  where  it  seemed  that  a  sign  "  from 
Heaven  "  was  supposed  to  be  beyond  the  power  of 
evil  spirits :    we  gather  it  also  from  St.  Matt.  xxi. 
15,  St.  John  vii.  3 — 5,  and  St.  John  ix.  31 ;  and  in 
St.  John  v.  36,  the  Worker  expressly  appeals  to  His 
works  as  His  credentials.     It  remains  to  show  that 
the  Gospel  history  is  trustworthy. 

48.  The  Gospels  when  written. — We  shall  divide 
the  proof  into  two  parts :  that  the  Gospels  are  the 
work  of  persons  who  lived  at  or  about  the  time  of 
the    rise   of    the   Christian    religion,    so   that   they 
professed  to  be  recording  events  of  their  own  time ; 
and  that  these  writers   had   and   used  the    means 
of  knowing  the  truth   of  these   events  and   wrote 
according  to  their  knowledge. 

The  authenticity  of  a  work  which  purports  to 
contain    contemporary    history   may    be    gathered 


56  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [48 

from  the  judgment  formed  upon  the  matter  by  the 
generation  which  immediately  succeeded  that  in 
which  the  work  professes  to  be  written ;  or  even 
from  the  judgment  of  still  later  times,  if  the  matter 
was  sufficiently  important  in  their  eyes  to  assure  us 
that  they  used  the  means  that  they  possessed  of 
ascertaining  the  truth.  We  shall  apply  this  test 
to  the  case  of  the  four  Gospels  by  showing  that 
within  a  few  years  after  the  events  recorded,  they 
were  held  in  unique  honour  as  containing  trust- 
worthy records  of  the  life  of  Christ,  in  a  sense 
which  was  not  true  of  any  other  books.  We  shall 
show  this  by  considering  the  multiplication  of 
manuscripts,  the  production  of  versions,  and  the 
direct  testimonies  that  are  still  accessible. 

It  will  be  observed  that  we  do  not  here  under- 
take to  show  that  the  Gospels  were  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  they  bear,  for  in  no  case  is  the 
name  of  the  author  a  part  of  the  book ;  the  names 
of  the  writers  are  known  from  other  sources,  but 
the  Gospels  themselves  are  anonymous,  except  so 
far  as  St.  John  indicates  his  own  authorship  in 
the  last  verse  but  one  of  his  Gospel.  (See  Comely, 
Introductiot  3,  226.)  It  is  enough  for  us  to  prove 
that  the  writers,  whatever  their  names,  were  con- 
temporaries. 

Also,  we  do  not  here  claim  for  the  Gospels  an 
authority  of  a  higher  nature  than  that  which 
belongs  to  other  human  histories.  The  proof  of 
their  inspiration  will  be  given  later.  (Treatise  III.) 

49.  Manuscripts. — The  earliest  extant  manu- 
scripts of  the  Gospels  belong  to  the  beginning  of 


49]  MANUSCRIPTS.  57 

the  fifth  century,  or  perhaps  to  the  end  of  the  fourth ; 
but  from  that  time  forward  they  exist  in  great 
numbers.  These  manuscripts  are  far  from  being 
identically  alike;  they  exhibit  a  multitude  of  dis- 
crepancies, not  such  as  to  raise  any  doubt  of  the 
general  integrity  of  the  documents  that  they 
transmit  to  us,  but  such  as  to  exclude  the  idea 
that  they  all  rest  upon  one  original  of  no  great 
antiquity.  The  study  of  the  various  readings  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  documents  had  been 
repeatedly  transcribed  long  before  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  so  that  different  "families"  of 
manuscripts  are  distinguished,  the  common  ancestor 
of  each  family  being  far  more  ancient  than  any- 
thing that  now  exists,  while  the  progenitor  from 
which  all  the  families  spring  cannot  be  younger  than 
the  times  of  the  Apostles.  This  argument  proves 
not  merely  the  antiquity  of  the  Canonical  Gospels, 
but  also  the  peculiar  esteem  in  which  they  were 
held.  The  transcribers,  it  is  true,  were  careless, 
and  by  their  errors  gave  rise  to  the  bulk  of  the 
various  readings  which  crowd  the  pages  of  critical 
editions,  and  sometimes  they  altered  the  text  before 
them  in  accordance  with  their  notions  of  what  if 
ought  to  contain ;  nevertheless,  it  is  clear  that  thej 
would  not  have  been  at  the  trouble  of  making  the 
transcript  at  all,  had  there  not  been  a  demand  foi 
copies ;  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that  nothing  of  the 
kind  can  be  asserted  of  any  of  the  other  narratives 
of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Christ  which  are  extant, 
and  pass  under  the  name  of  Apocryphal  Gospels : 
there  is  no  evidence  that  these  ever  had  a  wide 


58  THE  CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES  [49 

circulation  comparable  to  that  of  the  Four.  Beyond 
the  contents  of  the  four  Gospels,  the  Christian 
community  preserved  very  few  traditions  concern- 
ing their  Founder.  A  very  few  sayings  and  historical 
particulars  have  been  preserved  to  us,  which  have 
the  appearance  of  being  ancient :  they  will  be  found 
collected  in  Appendix  C  to  Dr.  Westcott's  Intro- 
duction to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  p.  457.  Also,  the 
case  of  the  Gospels  may  profitably  be  contrasted 
with  that  of  the  most  famous  classical  authors: 
particulars  will  be  seen  in  Mr.  Gow's  Companion  to 
School  Classics,  pp.  36,  seq.,  where  we  read  that  our 
knowledge  of  the  writings  of  ^Eschylus,  Lysias, 
Plato,  and  Lucretius,  and  of  large  portions  of 
Cicero  and  Tacitus,  is  due  to  single  manuscripts 
of  a  date  long  subsequent  to  the  author ;  yet  no 
serious  doubt  is  entertained  that  these  writings  are 
genuine.  (See  n.  130.) 

50.  Versions. — The  manuscripts  of  which  we  are 
speaking  are  in  Greek,  the  language  in  which  far 
the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  New 
Testament  was  written,  and  through  which  the 
whole  has  come  to  us.  But  the  Gospels  were  very 
soon  translated  into  Syriac  and  into  Latin,  both 
versions  being  in  existence  in  the  early  part  of  the 
second  century :  and  what  has  been  said  of  the 
wide  spread  of  the  originals  applies  also  to  these 
translations.  Thus  at  latest  in  the  third  generation 
after  the  date  of  the  events  recorded,  the  Gospels 
were  accessible  and  accepted  throughout  the  Roman 
Empire  and  through  a  great  part  of  the  Persian  : 
that  is  to  say,  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world. 


5i]  TESTIMONIES.  59 

51.  Testimonies. — It  remains  to  speak  of  the 
express  testimonies  that  remain  to  us,  showing  that 
predominant  authority  was  early  ascribed  to  the 
four  Gospels.  The  full  treatment  of  this  subject  is 
far  too  long  for  our  limits ;  it  will  be  found  in 
Father  Cornely's  Introdttctio,  or  more  completely 
in  Dr.  Salmon's  Introduction.  We  can  do  no  more 
than  quote  a  few  passages  of  writers  who  lived  in 
the  second  century.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who 
ceased  to  be  head  of  the  Catechetical  School  of  that 
city  in  the  year  202,  was  contending  with  a  heretic 
who  quoted  what  purported  to  be  a  passage  from 
the  Gospel;  but  Clement  rejects  it,  saying  (Strom. 
3,  13;  P.G.  8,  11:93):  "This  passage  is  not  found 
in  the  four  Gospels  that  we  have  received,  but  in 
the  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians."  We  see  there  that 
Clement  clearly  distinguished  between  the  tradi- 
tional four  Gospels  and  other  narratives. 

Tertullian,  who  began  to  write  before  the  end 
of  the  second  century,  more  than  once  gives  the 
names  of  the  four  Evangelists,  as  we  know  them. 
(Advers.  Marcion,  4,  2,  and  5;  P.L.  2,  363  and 
368.) 

St.  Irenaeus,  who  was  probably  born  in  130,  cites 
the  same  four  familiar  names  (Adv.  Hcereses,  3,  7; 
P.G.  7,  884.)  The  weight  to  be  attached  to  these 
three  testimonies  will  be  seen  to  be  the  greater 
when  it  is  remembered  that  they  represent  the  belief 
of  parts  of  the  Christian  world  most  remote  one 
from  another :  Clement  belonging  to  Egypt,  Ter- 
tullian to  Carthage,  while  St.  Irenaeus  was  born  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  at  the  time  of  writing  was  Bishop 


60  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [51 

of  Lyons,  thus  witnessing  for  Gaul  as  well  as  his 
native  country. 

Next,  we  may  cite  the  fragment  preserved  in  the 
Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan,  and  which  goes  by 
the  name  of  the  scholar  Muratori,  by  whom  it  was 
first  published.  Its  date,  it  is  believed,  cannot  be 
later  than  170,  and  it  plainly  recognizes  the  four 
Gospels,  as  may  be  seen  in  Salmon,  p.  64  n,  or  in 
Migne.  (P.L.  3,  173.)  It  seems  to  have  been  written 
at  Rome. 

St.  Justin,  who  presented  his  Apology  in  the  year 
150,  makes  constant  use  of  our  Gospels.  How 
slender  are  the  grounds  on  which  this  is  disputed 
may  be  seen  in  Comely,  Introdnctio,  3,  222. 

Tatian,  who  was  born  not  far  from  the  year  120, 
composed  a  Life  of  Christ,  which  was  called  Dtates- 
saron.  This  word  means  "  by  four,"  and  it  was 
natural  to  suppose  that  it  signified  a  work  the 
materials  of  which  were  drawn  from  the  four 
Evangelists.  This  explanation,  however,  was  con- 
tested, and  it  was  maintained  that  the  word  was 
a  musical  term,  and  denoted  a  full  or  perfect 
harmony.  Recent  discoveries,  however,  have  set 
the  question  at  rest ;  and  a  somewhat  long  but 
perfectly  sure  train  of  reasoning  proves  Tatian  to 
be  a  witness  that  in  his  time  our  four  Gospels  were 
recognized  as  possessing  paramount  authority.  The 
particulars  of  the  argument  may  be  read  in  Salmon, 
Introduction,  pp.  95 — 104,  in  Mr.  Maher's  tract  on 
the  subject,  and  elsewhere.  Space  does  not  allow 
us  to  give  them  here ;  nor  can  we  do  more  than 
mention  Papias,  whose  remains  are  collected  in  the 


51]  TESTIMONIES.  61 

first  volume  of  Routh's  Reliquia  Sacrce,  and  have 
important  bearing  upon  the  point  before  us,  but 
give  rise  to  many  questions. 

.  52.  Credibility. — It  being  taken  as  established 
that  our  four  Gospels  are  the  works  of  contem- 
poraries, it  remains  to  consider  whether  the  writers 
had  the  means  of  knowing  the  truth  as  to  the 
matters  they  describe,  and  whether  they  can  be 
trusted  to  have  written  according  to  their  knowledge. 
The  miracles  in  question  were  sensible  facts,  and 
in  their  own  nature  capable  of  being  known,  and 
one  of  the  writers  professes  to  have  been  an  eye- 
witness (St.  John  xix.  35,  xxi.  24) ;  and  as  to  all  of 
them,  if  we  are  satisfied  of  their  veracity,  we  must 
suppose  that  they  did  not  write  without  having 
assured  themselves  of  the  truth  of  their  narration. 
That  they  meant  to  tell  the  truth  follows  from  this, 
that  they  had  no  inducement  to  propagate  the 
Christian  religion  except  on  the  supposition  that 
they  were  persuaded  of  its  Divine  claim  upon  them. 
In  proving  that  the  early  preachers  embraced  a  life 
of  toil  and  hardship,  we  are  somewhat  hampered, 
because  we  must  draw  our  materials  from  the  four 
Gospels,  the  four  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  two 
heathen  writers :  we  cannot  use  the  Book  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  authenticity  of  which  we 
have  not  yet  proved,  and  the  discussion  of  which 
would  lead  us  to  a  long  and  needless  historical 
inquiry.  But  we  learn  from  Tacitus  that  Christ 
was  crucified,  and  His  followers  are  not  likely  to 
have  met  with  better  treatment,  nor  indeed  would 
they  have  reported  the  apparent  failure  of  the 


6a  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  (52 

Mission  of  Christ,  had  not  truth  compelled  them. 
They  report  His  prophecies,  by  which  He  warned 
them  that  those  who  undertook  to  carry  on  His 
work  might  look  forward  to  scourging  and  death 
as  their  fate  (St.  Matt.  x.  17  ;  St.  John  xvi.  2) ;  il 
these  prophecies  had  not  been  fulfilled  in  the 
persons  of  the  writers,  they  would  have  discredited 
their  cause  by  reporting  them.  And  we  have  direct 
testimony  that  these  prophecies  were  fulfilled,  not 
only  in  the  passage  of  Tacitus  already  cited  (n.  38), 
but  in  the  description  which  St.  Paul  gives  of  his 
life  (2  COT.  xi.  23 — 33),  where  he  does  not  deny  that 
other  preachers  of  Christ,  those  whom  he  speaks 
of  in  verse  13  as  false  apostles,  suffered  similar 
hardships,  but  only  asserts  that  his  own  sufferings 
exceeded  those  of  the  rest.  This  record  of  what 
he  endured  in  the  performance  of  the  work  to 
which  he  devoted  himself  abundantly  justifies  him 
in  saying  (i  Cor.  xv.  19) :  "  If  in  this  life  only 
we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most 
miserable." 

53.  Objections. — Such  is  then  a  very  brief  outline 
of  the  proof  that  Christ  wrought  physical  miracles 
in  attestation  of  His  claim  to  be  received  as  a  Divine 
Messenger,  from  which  it  follows  that  we  must 
look  to  His  utterances  as  containing  revelations 
from  God.  The  sketch  is  most  imperfect,  the  full 
development  requiring  much  space,  as  is  the  case 
with  all  historical  arguments:  its  full  treatment 
must  be  sought  elsewhere. 

The  question  of  thr  date  of  the  Gospels  being  of 
vital  importance  to  the  opponents  of  the  Christian 


53J  OBJECTIONS.  63 

Revelation,  they  leave  no  stone  unturned  in  their 
endeavour  to  find  objections  to  bring  against  our 
position.  They  elude  some  of  the  early  testimony 
by  denying  that  it  applies  to  our  Gospels,  and  by 
inventing  certain  primitive  Gospels,  which  they  say 
were  once  in  esteem,  but  which  for  no  assignable 
reason  perished,  making  way  to  allow  the  present 
Gospels  to  take  their  place :  to  which  theory  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  has  no  producible  basis.  But 
they  rest  chiefly  upon  internal  evidence,  and  point 
out  what  seem  to  be  contradictions  in  the  Gospels 
as  indicating  fiction ;  at  the  present  stage  of  our 
argument  we  need  say  no  more  than  that  general 
agreement  with  minute  discrepancies  is  the  ordinary 
condition  of  historical  narratives  :  the  full  discussion 
of  the  bearing  of  these  alleged  contradictions  will 
find  its  proper  place  when  we  speak  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  Scripture,  (n.  139)  Also,  they  assume  to 
know  what  the  true  Evangelist  would  have  said  or 
not  have  said  under  the  particular  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed ;  a  presumptuous  pretension : 
and  it  is  with  them  a  fundamental  position  that 
every  narrative  involving  a  supernatural  element 
cannot  possibly  be  authentic,  for  miracles  never 
happen  :  a  position  which,  if  proved,  would  render 
all  further  inquiry  useless,  but  which  never  can  be 
proved,  as  we  tried  to  show  in  the  last  chapter. 

54.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter,  after  pointing 
out  that  the  early  existence  of  Christianity  is  an 
undeniable  fact  which  imperatively  calls  for  explana- 
tion, we  showed  that  the  Christian  explanation  is 
sufficient,  and  that  this  account  was  based  upon 


64  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [54 

certain  physical  miracles  alleged  to  have  been 
wrought  by  the  Founder;  these  miracles  are  assumed 
to  be  familiar  by  St.  Paul  in  four  of  his  Letters,  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  which  there  is  no  controversy ; 
and  the  particulars  of  many  are  detailed  in  the  four 
Gospels,  which  were  received  as  authentic  in  the 
earliest  times. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PROPHECY. 

55.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we 
shall  discuss  some  of  the  Messianic  prophecies  found 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  point  out  the  conclusive 
proof  which   they   afford   of    the    Divinity   of    the 
Christian  Revelation,  in  spite  of  all  the  criticism  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected. 

56.  Nature  of  the  Argument. — The  incapacity  of 
man  to  see  into  the  distant  future  with  any  approach 
to  precision  is  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  moralists. 
Even  in  a  physical  matter,  such  as  the  weather,  the 
forecasts  for  merely  a  single  day  are  vague,  and  are 
often  falsified  by  the  event ;  and  where  the  action 
of  free-will  comes  in,  the  most  far-sighted  statesman 
will  not  pretend  to  say  what  will  be  the   state  of 
public  affairs  a  month  hence,  much  less  to  foretell 
the  actions   of  individuals,   which  are  always   less 
reducible  to  rule  than  those  of  masses  of  men.     If, 
then,  we  find  a  case  where  a  detailed  prophecy  has 
been   committed  to  writing,   and    has   received    its 
fulfilment    after   the   lapse   of  a   century,   we   must 
admit  that  it    is  the   effect  of  some   power  above 
nature :  and  the  same  tests  that  we  mentioned   in 
regard  to  miracles  (n.  32)  will  guide  us  in  judging 

F  VOL.  I. 


66  PROPHECY.  (56 

whether  or  not  this  power  is  Divine.  We  shall  show 
in  this  chapter  that  prophecies  answering  to  these 
requirements  have  attested  the  Christian  Revelation, 
whence  it  follows  that  this  Revelation  is  Divine. 

In  addition  to  what  we  have  already  proved,  we 
shall  assume,  what  is  not  called  in  question,  that 
the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  existed  some 
time  before  the  rise  of  Christianity. 

57.  Vague  expectations. — The  subject  may  be  intro- 
duced by  remarking  that  about  the  time  of  the  rise 
of  Christianity,  expectation  ran  high  throughout  the 
world  that  some  great  change  was  impending,  and 
men's  thoughts  were  turned  to  the  Jewish  nation  as 
destined  to  produce  some  great  man  who  would 
change  the  course  of  public  events.  We  read  this 
expressly  in  Tacitus,  who  was  a  boy  at  the  time  in 
question  and  may  be  said  to  speak  from  his  own 
knowledge.  Writing  of  the  year  70,  he  says  (Histories, 
5,  13) :  "  There  was  a  widespread  persuasion  that 
according  to  the  ancient  books  of  the  priests  the 
time  had  come  when  the  East  should  regain  its 
strength  and  those  should  come  forth  from  Judaea 
that  should  master  the  world."  The  expressions  of 
Suetonius,  also  a  contemporary,  are  still  stronger 
(Vesp.  4) :  "A  steady  conviction  had  long  been  rife 
in  the  East  that  at  this  very  time  those  should  come 
forth  from  Judaea  who  were  destined  to  master  the 
world."  Josephus  the  Jew  testifies  that  this  pro- 
phecy was  found  in  the  sacred  writings  of  his  nation 
(Wars  of  the  Jews,  6,  5,  4) ;  and  he  probably  had 
this  passage  in  his  mind  when  he  saluted  Vespasian 
as  destined  to  be  Emperor,  and  thereby  gained 


yj]  VAGUE  EXPECTATIONS.  67 

release  from  his  bonds  and  the  favour  of  the  great 
man.  (Wars,  3,  8,  9,  and  3,  10,  7.) 

At  the  very  time  of  which  these  authors  speak, 
the  prophecy  in  question  was  receiving  its  fulfilment : 
a  power  had  lately  gone  forth  from  Judaea  and  was 
mastering  the  world :  this  power  was  the  Christian 
religion. 

58.  Daniel. — The  vague  expectations  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking  were  not  without  a  written 
basis.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  there  may  be 
as  to  the  date  when  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Daniel 
was  put  into  its  present  shape,  no  critics  doubt  that 
it  was  in  existence  substantially  in  the  shape  in 
which  we  now  have  it  at  least  a  century  and  a  half 
before  the  Christian  era.  We  believe  that  its  true 
date  is  still  earlier,  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
but  the  later  date  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose,  and 
we  wish  for  brevity's  sake  to  avoid  all  historical  or 
critical  controversy,  as  far  as  possible.  Now  there 
was  nothing  in  the  situation  of  the  Jewish  people  in 
the  middle  of  the  second  century  before  Christ,  to 
suggest  that  in  any  sense  they  were  destined  ever 
to  become  masters  of  the  world,  while  to  fix  a  time 
when  the  process  should  begin,  not  immediately, 
but  after  five  or  six  generations  should  have  passed 
away,  was  certainly  a  work  surpassing  all  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  sagacity.  The  history  of  the 
Jewish  nation  at  the  period  in  question  is  known  in 
outline  with  perfect  certainty :  they  had  successfully 
resisted  the  Greek  King  Antiochus,  who  endeavoured 
to  force  them  to  abandon  their  ancestral  religion 
and  peculiar  customs,  and  they  had  been  admittec 


68  PROPHECY.  [58 

to  an  alliance  of  nominal  equality  and  real  depend- 
ence with  Rome  itself,  as  may  be  read  in  the 
eighth  chapter  of  the  First  Book  of  Machabees ;  but 
although  strong  in  their  inflexibility,  they  had  shown 
no  signs  of  aggressive  power,  or  inclination  to 
attack  their  neighbours,  nor  had  they  any  apostolic 
spirit  inducing  them  to  bring  over  converts  to  their 
religion ;  such  proselytes  were  received  if  they 
offered  themselves,  but  there  was  no  activity  in 
seeking  to  attract  them  on  spiritual  grounds :  social 
and  commercial  considerations  sometimes  induced 
heathens  to  submit  to  circumcision,  but  such  men 
were  in  no  great  esteem :  there  were  many  more 
who  attended  the  Synagogue  worship  and  professed 
to  observe  some  parts  of  the  moral  law  as  it  was 
understood  by  the  Jews,  but  the  bond  attaching 
these  "  proselytes  of  the  gate "  to  the  nation 
was  of  the  loosest  description :  the  circumcised 
"  proselytes  of  righteousness "  were  fully  incorpo- 
rated. 

Now  let  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Daniel 
be  read,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  midst  of 
much  that  is  obscure,  it  is  clear  that  a  revelation 
is  described  which  "  the  man  Gabriel,"  a  Divine 
messenger,  is  represented  as  giving  to  the  Prophet, 
in  answer  to  his  prayer :  and  according  to  this 
revelation,  "  Christ  the  Prince "  would  come  after 
the  lapse  of  a  certain  space  of  time  from  the  going 
forth  of  the  edict  to  build  up  Jerusalem  again  :  and 
few  critics  are  found  to  question  the  common  belief 
that  this  space  of  time  is  expressed  by  weeks  of 
years,  and  amounts  to  something  less  than  five 


58]  DANIEL.  69 

centuries.  Further,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
"going  forth  of  the  edict,"  whatever  it  precisely 
meant,  took  place  about  five  hundred  years  before 
the  rise  of  Christianity,  which  religion  at  once 
began  the  work  of  mastering  the  world,  which  it 
accomplished,  so  far  as  the  Roman  Empire  was 
concerned,  when  after  the  lapse  of  three  more 
centuries  Constantine  gave  civil  recognition  to  the 
new  religion.  The  minute  discussion  of  this  famous 
prophecy  belongs  to  commentators  upon  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  and  they  find  considerable  difficulty  in 
determining  the  exact  sense  of  each  phrase,  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  received  its  accomplishment : 
but  their  doubts  do  not  extend  to  more  than  a  few 
years'  difference  in  the  results,  and  this  does  not 
affect  the  broad  view  which  we  have  taken,  and 
which  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  This  at  least 
stands  out  clearly :  a  writer  who  lived  not  later 
than  a  century  and  a  half  before  Christ  foretold 
within  a  few  years  the  date  at  which  a  Prince  would 
come  Who  should  be  slain,  but  on  Whose  death 
iniquity  should  be  abolished.  The  Founder  of 
Christianity  was  a  Prince  Who  answered  to  this 
description,  and  came  at  the  destined  time :  He 
was  a  Prince,  for  notwithstanding  His  death  of 
shame,  His  followers  went  forth  from  Jerusalem 
and  mastered  the  world.  We  have  here  a  prophecy 
which  plainly  surpasses  the  natural  power  of  man, 
and  no  one  will  suggest  that  it  was  diabolic ;  it 
remains,  therefore,  that  the  prediction  was  Divine, 
and  that  the  Prince  was  in  a  special  sense  a 
messenger  from  God. 


jo  PROPHECY.  [59 

59.  An  objection  answered. — Those  writers  who 
do  not  admit  the  interpretation  which  we  have 
given  of  this  passage  of  Daniel,  generally  explain  it 
as  being  a  "prophecy  after  the  event,"  and  make 
out  that  it  refers  to  the  defeat  of  the  attempt  of 
Antiochus  to  destroy  the  religion  and  national  exist- 
ence of  the  Jews.  But  this  interpretation  is  open 
to  the  difficulty  that  the  "  Christ,  the  Prince "  of 
the  Prophet,  is  spoken  of  as  a  single  person,  while 
no  one  man  stood  conspicuously  forward  in  the 
struggle  against  the  Greek  tyrant ;  the  Machabean 
family  took  the  leading  part,  but  there  was  no  one 
member  of  the  family  who  took  so  leading  a  part  as 
to  account  for  his  being  spoken  of  as  the  Anointed 
Prince,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest.  Moreover, 
there  is  no  possibility  of  making  the  chronology  suit 
with  this  explanation  ;  there  is  no  way  of  making 
out  that  seventy  weeks  was  the  interval  between  the 
appearance  of  the  edict  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  city 
and  the  exploits  which  brought  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence to  a  glorious  termination.  This  interval 
cannot  have  been  very  different  from  three  hundred 
and  fifty  years. 

The  main  objection  to  the  Messianic  interpre- 
tation of  the  Seventy  Weeks  is  based  on  the 
assertion  that  prophecy  is  never  definite  as  to  times 
and  places.  But  this  principle,  as  we  have  already 
pointed  out,  is  of  its  own  nature  incapable  of  proof, 
for  the  whole  matter  depends  upon  the  free-will  of 
God,  which  man  cannot  discern  ;  and  if  the  prin- 
ciple means  no  more  than  that  in  fact  no  such 
prophecies  exist,  then  it  cannot,  without  a  manifest 


59]  AN  OBJECTION  ANSWERED.  71 

petitio  principii,  be  adduced  as  proving  that  a 
particular  prophecy  does  not  disclose  the  future  in 
a  definite  manner.  In  fact,  the  Scriptures  contain 
many  prophecies  which  Christians  assert  to  be 
perfectly  definite,  and  to  have  been  exactly  ful- 
filled ;  the  upholders  of  the  principle  that  we  have 
been  speaking  of  must  discuss  each  of  these  on  its 
merits,  and  show  that  the  words  do  not  bear  the 
meaning  put  upon  them.  In  matters  of  this  kind, 
induction  is  useless  unless  it  rise  to  the  character 
of  perfect  induction,  and  then  it  is  a  truism. 

60.  Micheas. — We  proceed  to  the  discussion  of  a 
prophecy  which  is  definite  in  regard  to  place.  It 
relates  to  the  town  of  Bethlehem,  which  lies  about 
six  miles  south  of  Jerusalem, in  the  territory  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Juda.  This  town 
in  primitive  times  had  the  name  of  Ephrata,  as  is 
recorded  in  Genesis  xxxv.  19,  xlviii.  7 ;  we  have  no 
account  of  the  circumstances  that  led  to  the  change 
of  name.  There  was  another  Bethlehem  in  the 
tribe  of  Zabulon  (Josue  xix.  1 5),  by  way  of  distinc- 
tion from  which  the  town  near  Jerusalem  is  spoken 
of  as  Bethlehem  Ephrata,  or  Bethlehem  of  Juda. 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  name  is  not  found  in  the 
Hebrew  text  of  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  Josue,  where  the  towns  of  Juda  are  enumerated, 
and  the  omission  has  given  some  trouble  to  inter- 
preters ;  the  name  is  found  in  the  Septuagint,  after 
verse  59.  In  2  Paral.  xi.  6,  it  is  mentioned  among 
the  cities  of  Juda  which  Roboam  "  built,"  or  forti- 
fied, and  its  name  occurs  in  connection  with  the 
family  of  David,  who  came  from  there.  It  still 


7J  PROPHECY.  (60 

retains  its  name,  and  has  a  population  of  some 
3,000  Christians. 

This  town  of  Bethlehem  is  mentioned  in  a 
passage  found  in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Micheas. 
(v.  2.)  This  book  was  certainly  written  long  before 
the  Birth  of  Christ ;  probably  as  much  as  seven 
hundred  years.  The  Prophet  has  been  speaking  of 
the  events  that  were  destined  to  come  to  pass  "  in 
the  last  days,"  that  is  to  say,  at  some  indefinite 
future  time.  In  the  fourth  chapter,  the  Jewish 
people  are  told  that  they  shall  be  carried  captive  to 
Babylon,  and  this  specification  of  place  should  be 
observed ;  but  they  are  to  be  delivered,  and  to 
become  strong  against  their  enemies  ;  after  which 
comes  the  verse  that  we  are  to  consider  :  "  And 
thou,  Bethlehem  Ephrata,  art  a  little  one  among 
the  thousands  of  Juda;  out  of  thee  shall  He  come 
forth  unto  Me  that  is  to  be  the  ruler  in  Israel ;  and 
His  going  forth  is  from  the  beginning,  from  the 
days  of  eternity :  "  that  is  to  say,  the  petty  town 
of  Bethlehem  is  congratulated  on  its  destiny,  that 
it  is  to  be  the  birthplace  of  Him  Who  is  to  be  the 
Captain  of  the  people  in  their  triumphant  struggle 
with  their  enemies,  and  Who  shares  the  eternity  of 
God. 

The  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John  afford 
us  proof  that  this  prophecy  was  understood  at  the 
time  of  the  Birth  of  the  Founder  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  that  it  was  fulfilled  by  His  Birth  at 
Bethlehem,  to  which  place  His  Mother,  leaving  her 
home  at  Nazareth,  had  journeyed  for  a  temporary 
purpose.  We  read  the  circumstances  of  the  Birth 


60]  MICHEAS.  73 

in  the  first  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel ;  and 
in  the  second  chapter,  when  King  Herod  asked  the 
chief  priests  and  scribes  where  Christ  should  be  born, 
they  answered  :  "  In  Bethlehem  of  Juda.  For  so  it 
is  written  in  the  Prophet :  And  thou,  Bethlehem, 
the  land  of  Juda,  art  not  the  least  among  the 
princes  of  Juda ;  for  out  of  thee  shall  come  forth 
the  Captain  that  shall  rule  My  people  Israel."  And 
in  St.  John  (vii.  42)  we  find  the  supposed  birth  of 
our  Lord  in  Galilee  treated  as  conclusive  against 
His  claim  to  be  considered  the  Messiah  ;  for,  it  was 
asked,  Doth  not  the  Scripture  say,  that  Christ 
cometh  "  of  the  seed  of  David  and  from  Bethlehem, 
the  town  where  David  was  ?  " 

That  Christ  was  to  be  of  the  seed  of  David  is 
not  declared  in  the  passage  of  Micheas ;  the  popular 
and  well-founded  impression  on  the  subject  to 
which  St.  John  testifies,  was  probably  derived  from 
i  Paral.  xvii.  14,  and  Psalm  cxxxi.  n. 

The  meaning  of  the  prophecy  as  to  the  place  of 
birth  is  so  clear  as  not  to  call  for  explanation.  In 
the  face  of  it,  the  fact  that  our  Lord  had  His 
ordinary  residence  in  Nazareth,  and  was  supposed 
to  have  been  born  there,  was  a  real  difficulty,  but 
one  which  a  little  inquiry  would  have  cleared  up, 
for  His  Mother  was  living  and  accessible  (St.  Matt, 
xii.  47 ;  St.  John  xix.  25)  ;  and  it  was  probably  from 
her  that  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke  learned  the 
particulars  of  the  visit  to  Bethlehem  that  they  have 
recorded.  (St.  Matt.  ii.  I — 12 ;  St.  Luke  ii.  I — 20.) 
This  instance  illustrates  what  we  shall  see  in  the 
Treatise  on  Faith  (nn.  313,  314),  that  the  motives 


74  PROPHECY.  [60 

leading  men  to  believe  in  God  and  His  Revelation 
are  sufficient  to  remove  all  reasonable  doubt,  but 
not  so  evident  as  to  force  the  will  to  a  consent 
which  would  not  be  free,  and  therefore  not  meri- 
torious. (See  Denz.  1661.) 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  words  of  the  priests 
reported  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  are  not  absolutely 
identical  with  the  citation  from  the  Prophet.  The 
differences  between  the  passages  are  quite  imma- 
terial, but  there  is  no  verbal  identity.  Indeed,  at 
first  sight  there  is  a  contradiction :  the  Prophet 
says  that  Bethlehem  is  little,  and  he  is  cited  as 
saying  that  Bethlehem  is  not  little ;  but  a  moment's 
thought  will  show  that  this  contradiction  is  merely 
apparent,  and  that  both  forms  of  expression  convey 
the  same  sense  :  the  petty  town  of  Bethlehem  is  to 
be  ennobled  by  the  Birth  of  the  Saviour. 

The  latter  part  of  this  prophecy  relates  to  the 
eternal  generation  of  the  Saviour,  as  will  be 
explained  in  our  Treatise  on  the  Blessed  Trinity. 

61.  Fulfilments  of  Prophecy.  —  The  passage  of 
Micheas  which  we  have  been  considering  appears  to 
relate  to  Christ  in  its  direct  and  most  literal  sense, 
and  to  be  most  properly  a  prophecy.  The  same 
cannot  be  said  of  two  other  passages  from  the  Old 
Testament  which  are  quoted  by  St.  Matthew  in 
connection  with  the  visit  of  the  Magi  to  Bethlehem, 
and  a  few  remarks  upon  them  will  be  useful.  The 
first  is  the  pa  sage  from  Osee  xi.  i,  quoted  in 
St.  Matt.  ii.  15 ;  the  second,  quoted  in  the  i8th 
verse  of  the  same  chapter,  is  taken  from  Jerem. 
xxxi.  15. 


6i]  FULFILMENTS   OF  PROPHECY,  75 

The  Prophet  Osee,  in  this  chapter,  is  describing 
the  fortunes  of  the  Israelite  nation.  When  young, 
and  as  a  child,  it  was  brought  forth  from  the  slavery 
of  Egypt  by  the  power  of  God,  and  yet  in  its 
ingratitude  it  fell  off  to  idolatry.  All  this  seems  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  sojourn  of  our  Lord  in 
Egypt,  and  yet  St.  Matthew  tells  us  that  the  return 
from  that  land  of  exile  was  a  fulfilment  of  that 
prophecy.  The  apostate  Emperor  Julian,  in  the 
seventh  book  of  his  work  against  the  Christians, 
accused  the  Evangelist  of  practising  upon  the 
simplicity  of  his  readers,  as  St.  Jerome  tells  us  in 
the'  third  book  of  his  Commentary  on  Osee.  (P.L. 
25,  195.)  Eusebius  (Demonstr.  Evang.  9,  4 ;  P.G. 
22,  665)  boldly  maintains  that  the  prophecy  has 
direct  reference  to  Christ,  and  perhaps  Julian  had 
him  in  mind  as  one  whom  the  Evangelist  had 
deceived.  But  it  is  better  to  adopt  the  view  of 
Jerome  (I.e.),  who  holds  that  the  passage  primarily 
relates  to  the  delivery  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt 
under  Moses ;  but  it  regards  this  recall  of  the 
chosen  people  from  the  land  of  banishment  to  the 
land  of  promise  as  an  acted  prophecy  of  the  return 
of  Christ  from  Egypt  to  Judaea.  God  can  fore- 
shadow the  future  by  events  no  less  than  by  words  ; 
and  He  is  said  to  use  this  mode  of  speaking  by 
types,  when  His  providence  has  so  arranged  the 
course  of  one  event  as  to  make  it  prefigure  some 
future  event,  which  is  called  the  antitype. 

In  the  passage  from  Jeremias  quoted  by  St. 
Matthew,  the  case  seems  to  be  different.  If  we 
still  follow  the  interpretation  of  St.  Jerome,  in  his 


PROPHECY.  [61 


sixth  Book  on  Jeremias  (P.L.  24,  876),  this  passage 
of  the  Prophet  refers  exclusively  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  ;  and  the 
wailing  of  the  mothers  whose  sons  were  suffering 
the  penalty  of  their  crimes  cannot  be  a  type  of 
what  occurred  when  the  Holy  Innocents  were 
slaughtered.  It  follows  that,  according  to  this  great 
Doctor,  the  Evangelist  merely  "  accommodated " 
the  words  of  the  Prophet  to  the  matter  which  he 
was  describing,  and  did  not  adduce  them  as 
prophetic  of  the  event.  The  case  serves  to  illus- 
trate the  meaning  of  the  word  "accommodation," 
even  if  we  hold  that  the  Evangelist  adduced  the 
passage  as  directly  applicable.  As  to  this,  see  the 
matter  discussed  in  Father  Knabenbauer's  Commen- 
tary on  St.  Matthew. 

These  three  passages,  cited  by  St.  Matthew  in 
w.  6,  15,  18,  of  his  second  chapter,  are  specimens  of 
three  ways  in  which  the  Old  Testament  is  used  in 
the  New.  In  the  passage  of  Micheas  we  have  a 
direct  prophecy  of  the  event,  and  the  Gospel  calls 
attention  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy;  in  that 
from  Osee,  the  Prophet  refers  to  a  past  event, 
which  event  was  typical,  and  therefore  prophetic 
of  that  which  the  Gospel  records ;  the  passage  from 
Jeremias  may  have  been  in  no  sense  prophetic, 
but  its  words  are  used  by  the  Evangelist  as  aptly 
expressing  a  matter  which  was  not  contemplated 
by  the  Prophet,  nor  if  we  may  use  the  expression, 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  Who  spoke  through  him.  It 
will  be  observed  that  the  form  of  citation  is  not  the 
same  in  the  i8th  as  in  the  T5th  verse:  in  the  earlier 


61]  FULFILMENTS   OF   PROPHECY.  77 

case  we  have  ut  adimpleretur — riva  TrXr^pwOrj — "  in 
order  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  ; "  in  the  latter,  tune 
adimpletum  est — Tore  eVX^pco^ — "then  was  fulfilled/' 
But  the  question  to  which  class  any  particular 
citation  is  to  be  referred  cannot  be  settled  off-hand 
by  merely  observing  the  words  of  introduction  ;  but 
the  judgment  of  interpreters  must  be  exercised 
upon  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  after 
all  there  is  often  room  left  for  doubt.  Thus, 
Cornelius  a  Lapide  follows  St.  Jerome  in  the  way 
he  understands  the  passage  from  Osee,  but  differs 
from  him  as  to  that  taken  from  Jeremias. 

62.  Other  Messianic  Prophecies. — There  are  many 
other  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah  to  be  found 
in  the  Old  Testament,  some  authors  collecting  as 
many  as  a  hundred.  We  can  do  no  more  than 
briefly  notice  one  or  two.  The  name  of  Prot- 
Evangelium,  or  Primitive  Gospel,  is  given  to  the 
first  passage  of  the  kind,  in  Genesis  iii.  15,  where 
God  promises  that  there  should  be  enmities  between 
the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  serpent,  whose 
head  should  finally  be  crushed ;  a  prophecy  which 
concerns  more  particularly  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
the  Saviour.  A  series  of  passages  record  the 
promises  that  the  Deliverer  should  be  descended 
from  Abraham  (Genesis  xii.  3),  from  Isaac  (Genesis 
xxvi.  4),  and  from  Jacob.  (Genesis  xxviii.  14.)  The 
much  controverted  passage  in  Genesis  xlix.  8 — 12, 
may  perhaps  be  taken  as  showing  that  He  should 
descend  from  Juda,  that  son  of  Jacob  on  whom  his 
father  pronounced  this  blessing ;  but  it  refers  more 
particularly  to  the  time  of  coming  of  this  Redeemer, 


78  PROPHECY.  [6a 

which  should  take  place  before  national  independ- 
ence was  altogether  lost  to  the  Jewish  people. 
The  same  mode  of  indicating  the  date  is  generally 
thought  to  be  also  adopted  by  the  Prophet  Aggeus, 
whose  office  was  to  encourage  the  people  who  were 
engaged  in  erecting  a  second  Temple  at  Jerusalem, 
in  place  of  that  which  had  been  built  by  Solomon 
and  destroyed  by  the  Assyrians.  Some  of  the  elders, 
who  had  seen  the  glory  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
lamented  that  with  all  their  efforts,  that  which  they 
now  were  raising  fell  so  short  of  that  which  they 
remembered  ;  and  to  comfort  them,  Aggeus,  speak- 
ing in  the  name  of  God,  declared  (ii.  7 — 10)  that 
the  time  should  come  when  the  glory  of  the  later 
house  should  be  greater  than  that  of  the  first ;  and 
he  gives  the  reason  which,  according  to  the  Vulgate 
translation,  is  that  He  Whom  all  nations  desire 
should  come  to  that  house.  These  words  cannot 
bear  any  interpretation  except  that  which  refers 
them  to  the  Messiah ;  and  since  this  second  Temple 
was  destroyed  by  Titus  in  A.D.  70,  it  follows  that 
He  has  come  long  ago.  It  follows  further  that  the 
passage  avails  in  Catholic  theology  as  a  proof  that 
this  coming  has  now  past ;  for,  as  will  be  shown  in 
its  proper  place  (n.  152),  the  authority  of  the  Vulgate 
is  such  that  no  dogmatic  error  is  deducible  from  its 
wcrds.  But  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  Vulgate 
correctly  represents  what  the  Prophet  wrote,  and 
in  the  present  case  there  is  great  difficulty  in  accept- 
ing the  version,  unless  we  suppose  that  the  Hebrew 
text  is  corrupt.  In  the  Hebrew  the  verb  is  in  the 
plural,  and  its  subject  is  a  collective,  so  that  the 


6a)  OTHER  MESSIANIC  PROPHECIES.  79 

meaning  is  "the  desirable  things  shall  come," 
whether  it  be  the  things  which  the  nations  desire 
or  which  they  possess ;  either  way  the  verse  would 
contain  an  assurance  that  the  treasures  of  the 
nations  should  one  day  be  lavished  in  adorning  this 
second  house ;  as  was  in  fact  done  by  the  hands 
3f  Herod  the  Great,  as  described  by  Josephus. 
(Antiquities,  15,  II,  3.)  The  same  meaning  is  given 
by  the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint :  but,  nevertheless, 
the  Vulgate  interpretation  finds  defenders.  See 
Corluy  (Spicilegium,  i,  520),  who  upholds  the  Latin, 
and  Knabenbauer  (Propheta  Minores,  2,  187 — 199), 
who  deserts  it. 

The  latter  part  of  the  Book  of  Isaias  (xlii. — Ixvi.) 
is  full  of  descriptions  of  the  rejection  of  Christ, 
His  sufferings  and  Death ;  and  many  circum- 
stances are  alluded  to  by  Zacharias ;  also  the 
Psalms  afford  a  large  number  of  passages,  four  at 
least  being  entirely  Messianic.  (Psalms  ii.  xliv.  Ixxi. 
and  cix.) 

63.  Prophetic  Allusions. — In  the  case  of  many  of 
these  passages  the  reference  to  Christ  is  so  clear 
that  it  can  scarcely  be  questioned,  but  there  are 
others  where  the  meaning  cannot  be  demonstrated. 
In  the  case  of  these  obscurer  passages,  no  fair 
judgment  can  be  formed  concerning  the  allusion 
except  by  those  who  admit  the  Messianic  interpre- 
tation of  the  clearer  texts.  Just  as  was  remarked 
in  the  case  of  miracles  (n.  32),  so  with  prophecies ; 
there  is  a  family  likeness  among  them,  and  those 
who  have  made  acquaintance  with  some  members 
of  the  family  will  easily  recognize  the  rest ;  only, 


to  PROPHECY.  [63 

care  must  be  taken  that  specimens  of  undoubted 
genuineness  are  chosen  for  study. 

The  full  force  of  the  argument  for  the  Christian 
Revelation  founded  on  the  prophecies  contained  in 
the  Old  Testament  cannot  be  understood  without  a 
discussion  of  the  whole  of  these  passages,  to  show 
their  orderly  sequence.  Such  a  discussion  will 
be  found  in  various  works  devoted  to  the  special 
subject,  but  it  would  carry  us  far  beyond  our  limits 
to  attempt  it. 

64.  Recapitulation. — In  the  chapter  on  Prophecy, 
after  stating  the  nature  of  the  argument,  we  quoted 
Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  Josephus,  to  show  that  at 
the  coming  of  Christ,  a  vague  expectation  existed 
throughout  the  world  that  some  power,  springing 
from  Judaea  would  establish  itself  and  rule.  The 
origin  of  this  expectation  was  then  traced  to  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel,  and  Micheas  was  quoted  as 
declaring  that  Bethlehem  should  be  the  birthplace 
of  the  Saviour.  Various  modes  of  the  fulfilment  of 
prophecy  were  explained,  and  a  large  number  of 
Messianic  prophecies  were  briefly  indicated. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    CHRISTIAN    EVIDENCES.      MORAL   MIRACLES. 

65.  Subject  of  the    Chapter. — This  chapter  deals 
with  the    moral  miracles   that   attest  the   truth  of 
Christianity   more    persuasively   than   the    physical 
miracles  and  the  prophecies  found  in  the  Scripture. 
The   chapter   assumes    some   of    the   teachings    of 
history,  but  there  is  no  need  to  touch  on  matters 
of  historical  controversy :   the  broad  facts  on  which 
all  agree  are  sufficient  for  our  purpose. 

66.  Nature  of  the  A  rgument. — A  moral  miracle,  as 
we  explained  (n.  25),  is  an  event  depending  upon  the 
free-will  of  man,  but  which  is  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  that  ordinarily  regulate  human  conduct. 
These  moral  miracles,  when  established,  have  no 
less  probative  force  than  physical  miracles  and  pro- 
phecies ;    and  they  are  peculiarly  easy  to  establish, 
inasmuch  as  they  concern  the  action  of  large  bodies 
of  men,  which  is  necessarily  notorious.     A  physical 
miracle  is  essentially  an  isolated  occurrence ;    if  it 
happened  frequently,  it  would  necessarily  cease  to 
be   a    probative   miracle ;    and    being    isolated,   it 
necessarily  falls  under  the  immediate  cognizance  of 
a  few  only,  and  those  who  know  it  only  by  report 
are   less    impressed.      But    a    moral    miracle    can 

C  VOL.  I. 


•a  THE  CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES.  [66 

scarcely  be  recognized  unless  it  is  the  act  of  a 
multitude,  for  the  act  of  one  or  two  persons  may 
be  set  down  to  freak,  illustrating  the  freedom  of 
the  human  will.  But  experience  shows  that  though 
the  units  which  compose  a  multitude  of  men  are 
individually  free  and  capable  of  freaksr  yet  the 
conduct  of  the  whole  number  can  ordinarily  be 
foreseen  and  predicted  with  a  degree  of  assurance 
approaching  that  which  is  felt  in  regard  to  physical 
phenomena.  But  the  actions  of  communities  of 
men  constitute  the  ordinary  matter  of  the  history 
of  nations :  hence  our  argument  in  this  chapter  will 
be  founded  on  the  broad  facts  of  general  history. 
We  shall  show  that  under  the  influence  of  Christi- 
anity masses  of  men  have  acted  in  a  way  which 
would  not  have  been  adopted  by  them  under  the 
ordinary  influences  of  nature ;  it  follows  that  the 
Christian  influence  was  something  other  than 
natural,  and  in  fact  it  was  a  miracle  attesting  the 
Christian  Revelation.  We  shall  show  that  the 
Christian  religion  spread  rapidly  in  the  world  with- 
out there  being  any  assignable  cause  for  its  success ; 
that  this  spread  was  in  accordance  with  prophecy ; 
that  it  took  place  in  spite  of  the  Christian  dogm;i 
requiring  humble  submission  of  intellect  to  un- 
attractive beliefs,  while  the  Christian  moral  law 
exacted  the  renouncement  of  much  that  was  dear 
to  man  and  the  adoption  of  a  strange  and  dis- 
tasteful line  of  conduct ;  that  the  religion  spread, 
although  the  civil  power  was  exerted  to  the  utmost 
to  check  it,  numbers  in  all  ages  having  suffered 
torments  and  death  rather  than  do  any  act  which 


66]  NATURE  OF  THE  ARGUMENT.  83 

was  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profession  ;  and 
lastly,  that  the  success  of  the  religion  was  secured 
in  spite  of  the  misconduct  of  many  that  embraced  it. 
67.  The  Conversion  of  the  Empire. — The  change 
which  came  over  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  course 
of  the  half-century  between  300  and  350  years  after 
the  Christian  era  is  perhaps  unique  and  unparalleled 
in  history.  The  change  is  foreshadowed,  if  we 
compare  two  verses  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
(i.  13  and  ii.  14) ;  the  Apostles  had  been  living  in 
the  privacy  of  the  "  upper  room,"  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  came  upon  them  and  the  rest ;  this  was  the 
foundation  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  result 
is  seen  when  we  read  that  Peter  stood  up  with  the 
eleven  and  lifted  up  his  voice  and  spoke  to  the 
multitude  with  such  effect  that  by  this  one  sermon 
three  thousand  of  the  people  were  converted  and 
baptized.  St.  Augustine  tells  us  how  the  Cross, 
which  had  been  the  badge  of  infamy  and  mark  of 
the  deepest  scorn,  was  in  his  time  raised  to  honour 
as  the  Christian  symbol,  and  had  its  place  on  the 
crowns  of  kings.  (Enarr.  in  Psalm,  liv.  n.  12 ;  P.L. 
36,  637.)  The  same  point  is  illustrated  by  the 
story,  true  or  false,  of  the  vision  of  the  Cross  in 
the  heavens,  seen  by  Constantine  when  on  his 
successful  march  to  Rome  in  the  year  311 ;  the 
Cross  bearing  the  inscription,  "  In  this  conquer," 
whether  in  Latin,  In  hoc  signo  vinces,  or  as  others 
report  in  Greek,  JEv  rovry  vUa.  The  heavenly 
promise  or  injunction  thus  given  was  abundantly 
fulfilled,  when  Constantine  secured  to  himself  the 
dominion  of  the  whole  Roman  world  and  became 


THE  CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES. 


the  first  Christian  Emperor.  A  discussion  of  the 
evidence  for  this  story  will  be  found  in  the  second 
of  Newman's  Essays  on  Miracles,  c.  v.  §  4. 

But  perhaps  the  most  famous  narrative  of  this 
kind  is  that  of  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus. 
The  authorities  for  the  story  will  be  found  collected 
in  the  Bollandist  Ada  Sanctorum  for  July  27.  The 
Seven  Sleepers  are  mentioned  in  the  Roman 
Martyrology  for  that  day,  but  without  any  particulars, 
and  we  are  quite  at  liberty  to  regard  the  current 
version  of  their  story  as  pure  fable,  as  is  done  by 
Cardinal  Baronius  (Annul.  Ecclcs.  ad  ann.  853,  n.  61 
[84])  ;  but  even  if  false  it  shows  how  the  conversion 
of  the  Empire  struck  the  inventor  of  the  story. 
It  tells  how  seven  Christian  men  fled  from  Ephesus, 
to  avoid  the  persecution  of  the  Emperor  Decius, 
about  the  year  250.  They  took  refuge  in  a  cave, 
the  mouth  of  which  was  blocked  with  stones,  by 
order  of  the  magistrates,  and  they  were  left  to 
starve.  They  fell  asleep  and  slept  for  a  century  or 
more.  Meanwhile  a  peasant  had  removed  some 
of  the  stones,  and  when  the  sleepers  woke,  one  of 
them  was  able  to  leave  the  cave,  and  make  his  way 
to  the  city,  hoping  to  buy  bread.  His  astonishment 
is  described  at  finding  the  Cross  raised  to  adorn  the 
city  gates  :  at  seeing  the  churches,  the  use  of  which 
he  recognized  ;  and  at  hearing  passers-by  swear  by 
the  name  of  Christ.  His  sleep  had  begun  while  the 
old  pagan  world  still  existed  ;  he  awoke  at  the  dawn 
of  Christian  civilization. 

As  to  the  fact  of  the  rapid  spread  of  the 
Christian  religion,  one  or  two  quotations  will  suffice. 


67]  TUB  CONVERSION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  *3 

It  might  be  enough  to  rest  on  the  letter  of  Pliny, 
already  cited  (n.  41),  from  which  we  learn  that  in 
Bithynia  at  least,  a  large  part  of  the  population  was 
Christian  as  early  as  the  year  112;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  circumstances  of  that 
province  were  more  favourable  to  the  growth  of  the 
new  religion  than  those  of  the  rest  of  the  Empire : 
no  Apostle  is  recorded  to  have  preached  there. 
But  we  get  positive  testimony  from  the  writings  of 
St.  Justin  Martyr,  who  was  born  about  114.  In  his 
Dialogue  with  the  Jew  Trypho,  "  the  best  known 
Jew  of  his  age,"  as  Eusebius  calls  him  (Hist.  4,  18 ; 
P.G.  20,  376),  St.  Justin  ventures  to  taunt  his 
formidable  antagonist  with  the  utter  failure  of  the 
attempt  of  the  priests  and  teachers  of  the  Jewish 
nation  to  put  down  the  Christian  religion :  the 
upshot  of  all  their  efforts  was  that  the  name  of 
Jesus  was  reviled  and  blasphemed  throughout  the 
world  (Dial.  c.  Try  ph.  Judceo,  n.  117;  P.G.  6,  748)  ; 
a  sure  sign  that  also  it  was  known  and  honoured 
throughout  the  world  little  more  than  a  century 
after  the  Death  of  Christ.  Tertullian,  who  wrote 
about  the  year  200,  speaks  to  the  same  effect,  but 
more  fully.  He  is  addressing  the  heathen  Emperor 
(Apolog.  c.  37 ;  P.L.  i,  462) :  "  We  are  but  of  yesterday, 
and  we  fill  all  that  is  yours  ;  your  cities,  your  islands, 
your  military  posts ;  your  boroughs,  your  council- 
chambers  and  your  camps ;  your  tribes,  your 
corporations ;  the  palace,  the  senate,  the  forum : 
your  temples  alone  do  we  leave  to  you."  And  again, 
in  his  book  against  the  Jews  (Adv.  Jud.  0.7;  P.L. 
2,  610),  he  testifies  that  the  tribes  of  Africa,  Spain 


86  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [67 

and  Gaul  and  Britain,  Sarmatians,  Dacians,  Germans 
and  Scythians,  all  the  peoples  of  the  Latin  world  in 
short,  had  admitted  Christ  to  reign :  He  conquered 
where  the  Roman  arms  failed ;  the  bolted  gates  of 
cities  opened  to  admit  Him.  There  is  no  doubt 
some  rhetorical  exaggeration  in  this  passage,  but  at 
the  same  time  it  cannot  have  been  wholly  devoid  of 
foundation.  A  controversialist  would  ruin  his  cause 
who  spoke  thus  boastfully  and  was  not  known  to 
speak  with  substantial  truthfulness. 

68.  This  Success  how  accounted  for. — Those  writers 
who  do  not  admit  the  Divine  origin  of  the  Christian 
Revelation  feel  the  necessity  of  discovering  some 
natural  explanation  of  its  success  in  subduing  Rome; 
and  those  who  are  most  familiar  with  the  records  of 
the  time  are  those  who  are  most  pressed  by  the 
sense  of  this  necessity.  Gibbon,  the  historian  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  possessed 
an  unsurpassed  acquaintance  with  his  subject,  and 
he  devotes  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his  great  work  to 
pointing  out  five  causes  by  which  he  thinks  that  the 
progress  of  Christianity  can  be  explained  without 
recourse  to  special  Divine  intervention.  We  will 
briefly  examine  these  in  order. 

I.  The  first  cause  assigned  by  Gibbon  is  the 
inflexible,  intolerant  zeal  of  the  Christians.  It  is 
quite  true  that  the  Christians  in  whose  time  the 
conversion  of  the  Empire  was  wrought  were  in- 
flexible and  intolerant :  that  is  to  say,  they  believed 
the  Christian  Revelation  to  be  a  message  from  God 
to  men,  and  intended  for  the  benefit  of  all  men ; 
and  they  were  anxious  to  extend  this  benefit  as 


4.8]  THIS  SUCCESS  HOW  ACCOUNTED  FOR.  87 

widely  as  possible,  and  to  root  out  all  views, 
principles,  and  practices  which  were  opposed  to  this 
revelation,  as  being  false  and  injurious.  But  this 
spirit  was  as  far  as  possible  from  that  which  would 
recommend  the  religion  to  the  Romanj  of  the  time, 
whose  disposition  in  religion  no  less  than  in  philo- 
sophy was  eclectic ;  it  is  well  represented  by  the 
story  told,  whether  truly  or  falsely,  by  the  writer  of 
the  Life  of  Alexander  Severus,  which  goes  under  the 
name  of  Lampridius.  (Historia  Augusta,  p.  123  E  of 
the  Paris  Edition  of  1620.)  This  Emperor  reigned 
from  222  to  235 ;  and  the  historian  says,  on  the 
authority  of  a  contemporary  writer,  that  he  each 
morning  went  through  his  devotions  in  his  private 
chapel,  where  he  had,  amongst  others,  the  images 
of  Apollonius,  Christ,  Abraham,  and  Orpheus :  a 
strange  mixture,  for  the  first-named  was  a  Pytha- 
gorean philosopher  and  wonder-worker  of  the  first 
Christian  century,  whose  Life,  written  about  the  year 
200  by  Philostratus,  seems  to  have  been  intended  to 
be  a  rival  of  the  Gospels,  and  to  help  the  effort  then 
making  to  revivify  the  dying  pagan  system,  while 
Orpheus  was  a  merely  mythological  personage. 
What  Alexander  is  said  to  have  done,  all  Rome 
might  have  done ;  and  St.  Leo  truly  describes  the 
spirit  which  prevailed  when  he  says  (Serm.  ^  [82] , 
in  Natali,  A  post.  Petri  et  Pauli,  n.  2 ;  P.L.  54,  423), 
that  the  city  which  held  sway  over  all  nations  was 
itself  under  the  sway  of  the  errors  of  all;  and 
believed  herself  most  attentive  to  the  claims  of 
religion  because  there  was  no  falsehood  she  declined 
to  embrace.  This  temper,  far  from  being  conciliated 


88  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [68 

by  the  claim  of  the  Christian  to  the  exclusive 
possession  of  truth,  would  be  revolted  by  it :  in  fact, 
Pliny  tells  us  in  the  letter  already  quoted  (n.  41), 
that  in  his  opinion  the  obstinacy  of  the  Christians 
itself  deserved  punishment. 

II.  Gibbon  assigns  as  the  second  cause  of  the 
success  of  Christianity  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life. 
No  doubt  this  doctrine  tended  to  make  Christians 
firm   in  their  profession,  and   in  fact  the  words  of 
Christ,    "  These   shall  go   into   everlasting  punish- 
ment and  the  just  into  life  everlasting"  (St.  Matt. 
xxv.  46),  have  in  all  ages  been  powerful  deterrents 
from  evil  and  supports  of  virtue ;  but  the  question 
remains,  how  it  happened  that  this  doctrine  which 
had  been  taught  barrenly  by  the  poets  and  philo- 
sophers of  paganism   suddenly,  when  preached  by 
Christian   missionaries,  became  the  mainspring  of 
the  life  of  large  communities.      The  truth  is  that 
men  did  not  believe  in  Christ  because  He  taught 
the  immortality  of  the  soul :  but  they  believed  in 
immortality  because  Christ  taught  it. 

III.  The  third   cause  is  the  miraculous  power 
ascribed  to  the  Apostolic  Church.     This  is  a  real 
cause   of    the    success   of   Christian   teachers   who 
"  going  forth  preached  everywhere ;  the  Lord  work- 
ing withal,  and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  that 
followed."  (St.  Mark  xvi.  20.)    That  these  wonderful 
works    did    as   a   matter  of    fact   occur   was   fully 
admitted  even  by  those  who  had  every  opportunity 
of  knowing  the  truth  and  who  were  most  concerned 
to  deny  them :  but  the  only  question  raised  seems 
to  have  concerned  the  nature  of  the  power  to  which 


68]  THIS  SUCCESS  HOW  ACCOUNTED  FOR.  89 

they  were  due,  which  the  pagans  set  down  as  magic 
art,  as  we  saw  before,  (n.  36.) 

IV.  The     pure    and    austere    morals    of    the 
Christians  are  assigned  as  the  fourth  cause.     The 
same  remarks  are  applicable  here  as  we  made  on 
the  second  of  Gibbon's  causes.     How  did  it  happen 
that  the  Christians  adopted  so  pure  and  austere  a 
life  ?    In  truth,  the  Christian  standard   of  morality 
was  raised  so  high  above  that  professed  by  pagan 
society  that  the  Divine  force  of  the  religion  is  better 
seen  in  nothing  than  in  its  success  in  imposing  this 
standard  upon  the  world.     We  shall  have  another 
opportunity  of  enlarging  upon  this  point,  (n.  70.) 

V.  The  last  cause  is  the  union  and  discipline 
of  the  Christian  republic.      Again  we  may  use  the 
same   retort.      What   natural    power   secured   this 
unity  among  men,  and  induced  them  to  submit  to 
this  discipline  ?     Gibbon  makes  special  mention  of 
the  wealth  which  he  conceives  the  Church  to  have 
possessed,  and  of  the  practice  of  excommunication. 
But  this  wealth  must  have  been  derived  from  the 
contributions   of  the   Christians,  and   there   is   no 
inducement  to  join  an  institution  in  the  fact  that 
the  neophyte  will  be  expected  to  contribute  to  its 
support ;  and  to  be  cut  off  from  the  Church  can 
have  no  terrors  except  for  those  who  already  value 
the  privilege  of  membership. 

This  attempt  of  Gibbon  to  account  for  the  marvel 
whose  existence  he  recognized,  cannot  be  deemed 
successful,  and  what  was  said  by  St.  Augustine  (De 
Civit.  Dei,  22.  5;  P.L.  41,  756)  remains  true,  that 
if  the  world  were  converted  without  the  aid  of 


THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 


miracles,   this    conversion   would    be  the  greatest 
miracle  of  all. 

69.  The  Success  foretold.  —  St.  Augustine,   in   his 
Tract  on  Faith  in  the  Invisible,  has  an  argument 
which  deserves  mention.     It  is  found  in  the  fourth 
chapter,  n.  7.  (P.L.  40,  176.)     He  urges  that  the 
existence   of  the   Christian  religion   is   not   only  a 
standing  miracle,  but  a  standing  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy. It  is  no  small  marvel,  he  says,  that  the  whole 
race  of  man  is  moved  by  the  name  of  one  crucified 
Malefactor.      We  see  before  our  eyes  the   accom- 
plishment of  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  that 
in  him  shall  all  the  kindred  of  the  earth  be  blessed. 
(Genesis  xii.  3,  and  xviii.  18.)    All  the  Gentiles  have 
become  the    inheritance  of  the  Son  of  God  (Psalm 
ii.  8)  :  all  the  kindreds  of  the  Gentiles  adore  in  His 
sight  (Psalm  xxi.  28),  He  that  slept  has  risen  from 
His  sleep  (Psalm  xl.  9),  and  to  Him  the  Gentiles 
come   from  the  ends   of  the   earth   professing  the 
vanity  of  the  idols  which  their  fathers  worshipped 
(Jerem.  xvi.  19),  for  the  Lord  has  consumed  all  the 
gods  of  the  earth  (Sophon.  ii.  n),  Christ  is  exalted 
above  the  heavens,  and  His  glory  is  over  all  the 
earth.  (Psalm  cvii.  6.) 

The  prophets  and  psalmists  had  no  natural 
ground  for  speaking  with  such  assurance  ;  but  the 
event  proved  that  their  assurance  was  justified. 

70.  Christian    Morality.  —  The    success    which 
attended    the    efforts    of    Christian    teachers    will 
appear  the   more   inexplicable  when  the  obstacles 
are  considered  which  stood  in  their  way  ;  and  first 
we  will   mention   the    point   which   we  referred   to 


70]  CHRISTIAN  MORALITY.  91 

when  discussing  the  fourth  of  Gibbon's  vaunted  Five 
Causes.  Each  man  that  embraced  Christianity 
professed  his  readiness  to  submit  to  a  moral  law 
which  put  a  restraint  upon  his  natural  inclinations, 
far  severer  than  that  which  any  heathen  teacher 
had  succeeded  in  imposing  upon  his  disciples.  The 
bulk  of  the  heathen  moralists  went  no  further  than 
to  point  out  the  expediency  of  just  dealing,  the 
control  of  passions  and  the  like ;  the  Stoics  took 
a  view  which  seemed  to  place  morality  upon  a 
sounder  basis,  when  they  urged  that  it  was  right 
to  live  according  to  nature :  but  they  failed  to 
produce  any  motive  that  availed  to  induce  men  to 
do  what  was  right,  and  all  their  exhortations  were 
utterly  without  effect  in  moulding  the  lives  of  large 
bodies  of  men.  The  utility  of  observing  certain 
lines  of  conduct  and  the  abstract  beauty  of  a  natural 
life  undisturbed  by  passion,  might  have  been  pro- 
claimed for  centuries  without  producing  more  effect 
then  they  had  produced  at  the  time  of  which  we 
are  speaking ;  Christianity  laid  down  its  positive 
rules,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  and  the  like,  and  crowds 
gathered  together  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  to  pledge 
themselves  to  observe  these  rules,  as  Pliny  tells  us. 
(n.  41.)  These  rules  were  observed  because  they 
were  laws  laid  down  by  God  the  Creator,  Who  had 
the  right  to  impose  them  and  the  will  and  power 
to  punish  their  transgression ;  and  their  breach 
would  be  inconsistent  with  the  love  which  the  same 
God  had  won  by  becoming  Man  and  dying  for 
the  redemption  of  His  creatures;  but  even  these 
motives  would  have  been  powerless  to  produce  their 


THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 


effect  had  not  the  grace  of  the  same  God  worked 
invisibly  in  the  hearts  of  men,  strengthening  them 
to  do  that  which  would  have  been  beyond  their 
natural  strength. 

I.  To    understand    something  of   the   effect   of 
the  preaching  of  this  law  upon  mankind,  we  may 
contrast  the  manners  of  Europe  of  the  third  century 
after  Christ  with  those  of  the  nineteenth.    And  first, 
idolatry  was  once  universal  and  now  is  unknown, 
so  utterly  unknown  that  men  find  it  hard  to  believe 
that  such   folly  and  wickedness  ever  existed,  and 
suspect  that  Isaias  was  exaggerating  in  the  picture 
he  draws  (xliv.  13  —  17)  of  the  carpenter  who  uses 
one  and  the  same  piece  of  wood,  part  for  fuel  to 
cook  his  pottage  and  part  to  make  a  god  and  bow 
down  before  it  and  pray  to  it  and  say,  "  Deliver  me, 
for  thou  art  my  god."      But   that   actual  idolatry 
really   prevailed   even   among   educated    men    long 
after  the  Birth  of  Christ  is  proved  by  the  distinct 
avowal  of  Arnobius,  the  African  teacher  of  rhetoric, 
who  being  converted  from  paganism  to  Christianity 
not  much  earlier  than  the  year  300,  wrote  a  brilliant 
exposure  of  the  follies  and   contradictions   of  the 
popular  religion.      He  declares  (Adv.  Gentcs,  I,  39; 
P.L.   5,  767)   that,    before    his   conversion,  in    h;s 
blindness  he  used  to  venerate  gods  fashioned  on  the 
anvil  with  the  hammer;  and  he  would  speak  to  a 
log  of  wood  and  beg  benefits  from  it.     This  folly 
now  can  scarcely  be  found  in  the  Western  world. 

II.  Christian  honour  of  purity  has  replaced  the 
foul  and  public  vice  which  formed  a  leading  and 
most    attractive    part   of   the    ceremonial   of    idol 


TO]  CHRIST/AN  MORALITY.  93 

worship.  The  heathens  honoured  their  gods  by 
the  use  of  practices  which  the  Apostle  will  not  allow 
to  be  named  among  Christians.  (Ephes.  v.  3.)  We 
read  of  this  in  the  account  of  the  rites  by  which  the 
golden  calf  was  worshipped  in  the  desert  (Exodus 
xxxii.  6) :  the  word  translated  "  play  "  is  the  same 
35  that  which,  in  Genesis  xxxix.  14  and  17,  is 
rendered  "  abuse."  The  true  character  of  Roman 
games  in  honour  of  the  gods  is  set  forth  in  Tertul- 
lian's  tract,  De  Spectaculis,  and  this  should  be 
remembered  whenever  Patristic  authority  is  invoked 
against  the  practice  of  going  to  the  theatre.  (P.L.  i, 
630 — 662.)  In  no  country  which  has  been  under 
Christian  influence  are  certain  acts  seen  in  public, 
although  heathen  morality  found  in  them  nothing 
to  blame.  Moreover,  Christian  instinct  has  in  every 
age  taught  thousands  that  their  service  of  God  will 
be  most  perfect  if  offered  in  the  state  of  perfect 
chastity,  in  imitation  of  the  Virgin  Mother  of  their 
Lord  :  and  this  life,  so  contrary  to  nature  as  to 
seem  impossible,  is  found  to  be  easy  in  virtue  of  the 
grace  that  God  gives  to  those  whom  He  calls.  The 
Christian  religion  has  not  yet  secured  that  all 
men  shall  observe  the  law :  but  this  much  has 
notoriously  been  gained,  that  all  who"  make  any 
account  of  the  name  of  Christian  that  they  bear 
profess  to  hold  purity  in  honour,  and  there  is  no 
public  indulgence  in  immorality. 

III.  The  honour  in  which  the  Mother  of  God  is 
held  has  led  Christians  to  treat  the  weaker  sex  with 
respect,  and  show  a  deference  to  woman  to  which 
the  most  refined  races  of  antiquity  were  total 


94  THE   CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCES.  [79 

strangers.  The  wife,  who  used  to  be  the  toiling 
slave  of  the  husband  and  the  instrument  of  his 
pleasures,  liable  to  be  sent  away  at  his  caprice,  has 
been  raised  by  Christianity  to  be  his  life-long  com- 
panion, sharing  with  him  the  headship  of  the  family. 

IV.  The  Christian  law  that  forbade  murder  was 
felt  to  extend  itself  so  far  as  to  forbid  the  taking  of 
life,  except  by  public  authority  in  the  case  of  male- 
factors, from  any  human  being,  of  whatever  age. 
Heathen  morality  allowed  infanticide,  and  Aristotle 
(Politics,  vii.  16)  lays  down  the  rules  under  which  it 
ought  to  be  practised.     In  Rome  it  continued  in  use 
long  after  the  old  severity  of  the  patria  potestas  had 
been  mitigated,  and  when  public  opinion  would  no 
longer  have  tolerated  the  act  of  a  father  who  put 
to  death  the  chilli  whom  he  had  once  acknowledged. 
The  practice  was  slow  in  disappearing.     Even  after 
the  time  of  Constantine,  the  Imperial  laws   upon 
the   subject  did  not  aim  at  securing  the  life  of  a 
child  whose  parents  had  exposed  it  to  die  of  cold 
and  want  of  food :   they  were   concerned  with  the 
respective    property   rights   of    the    natural    father 
who  had  exposed  the  child  and  of  the  foster-father 
who  had  found  and  reared  it ;  the  child  was  a  slave, 
but  which    parent  was   owner  of  this   slave?      At 
present,  in  no  Christian  State  does  either  law  or 
public  opinion  sanction  infanticide. 

V.  At  the  present  day  the  amount  of  private 
alms-giving  by  Christians  exceeds  all  that  can  be 
suspected  except  by  those  who  have  special  oppor- 
tunities of  knowing  the  truth  ;  and  statesmen  haw 
always   before    their   eyes   the    necessity   of    publi< 


70]  CHRISTIAN  MORALITY.  95 

provision  for  the  poor,  so  as  to  secure  as  far  as 
possible  that  the  whole  community  join  in  main- 
taining  those  who  are  unable  to  maintain  themselves. 
The  records  of  pagan  antiquity  will  be  searched  in 
vain  for  any  institution  of  the  kind :  but  the  words 
of  Christ,  that  he  that  gave  a  cup  of  cold  water 
should  not  lose  his  reward  (St.  Matt.  x.  42),  that 
what  was  done  to  one  of  His  least  brethren  was 
done  to  Him  (St.  Matt.  xxv.  40),  sank  deep  into  the 
hearts  of  His  disciples,  and  led  in  some  cases  to 
the  community  of  goods  described  in  the  Acts  oi 
the  Apostles,  (ii.  44 — 46.)  The  administration  of 
relief  was  not  without  its  difficulties  (Acts  vi.  i),  but 
the  system  was  persevered  in,  and  became  a  regular 
part  of  the  polity  of  the  Church.  St.  Ambrose,  in 
the  second  of  his  three  Books  on  the  Duties  of  the 
Ministers  of  the  Church,  argues  that  even  the  con- 
secrated vessels  that  serve  for  the  use  of  the  altar 
must  be  sold,  when  money  is  needed  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  captives  (De  Off.  2.  28;  P.L.  16.  139),  and 
he  tells  the  famous  story  of  St.  Lawrence,  the 
deacon,  who  being  required  to  surrender  the 
treasures  of  the  Church  to  the  tyrant,  pointed  to 
the  poor,  by  whose  hands  all  his  wealth  had  been 
carried  to  the  store-houses  of  Heaven. 

VI.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  illustration  of  the 
influence  of  Christianity  upon  society  is  found  in 
the  success  which  has  attended  the  efforts  of  the 
Church  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  slavery  and  at  length 
abolish  the  institution  in  all  Christian  countries.  In 
early  days,  the  servant  of  the  Christian,  by  receiving 
Baptism,  became  the  most  dear  brother  of  his 


g5  THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES.  [70 

master  (Philemon  16) ;  it  was  recognized  that  the 
souls  of  master  and  slave  came  from  the  hand  of 
a  common  Creator,  that  they  were  alike  redeemed 
with  the  Blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  sanctified  by 
the  same  Sacraments :  and  although  cruel  abuses 
long  continued,  yet  the  ordinary  practices  of  upright 
pagans  were  never  possible  in  a  Christian  society. 
Cato  the  Elder  advises  the  householder  to  get  rid 
of  old  harness  and  old  slaves,  sickly  slaves  and 
sickly  sheep,  utterly  regardless  of  the  common 
human  nature  which  Moralists  talked  about. 

VII.  The  Roman  theory  of  the  origin  of  slavery 
was  that  a  prisoner  of  war  might  lawfully  be  slain, 
and  that  a  victorious  general  who  waived  this  right 
for  a  while,  might  employ  the  services  of  his  captive. 
(Justinian,  Institutes,  I,  3,  3.)  Prisoners  taken  in 
battle  are  now  protected  by  the  so-called  "  laws  of 
war,"  and  all  nations  that  bear  the  name  of  Christian 
profess  to  observe  these  laws,  which  do  much 
towards  forcing  the  stronger  party  to  refrain  from 
using  his  strength  to  the  uttermost  and  to  secure 
that  the  natural  rights  of  the  weaker  shall  be 
respected. 

Other  points  might  be  mentioned,  but  these 
seven  are  sufficient  to  show  how  vast  a  revolution 
has  been  effected  in  human  society  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel. 

71.  Bud  Example  and  State  Opposition. — We  have 
reserved  to  the  last  place  the  mention  of  the  greatest 
and  most  painful  of  all  the  hindrances  against  which 
the  Christian  preacher  has  to  struggle:  the  bad 
lives  of  many  Christians.  In  the  days  of  persecution 


71]         BAD  EXAMPLE  AND  STATE  OPPOSITION.          97 

we  read  of  the  courage  of  the  martyrs,  but  we  read 
also  of  the  lapsed,  who  had  yielded  under  torture  or 
the  fear  of  torture;  in  later  times  the  history  of 
missions  is  full  of  the  complaints  of  labourers  that 
the  bad  lives  of  professing  Christians  repelled  pagans 
from  a  religion  the  sublimity  of  which  they  recog- 
nized. The  Jews  have  a  saying  that  if  Israel  kept 
the  Law  for  but  one  day,  Messiah  would  come ;  and 
we  may  think  that  if  Christians  abstained  from  sin 
for  but  one  day,  the  world  would  be  converted. 
God  wishes  to  be  served  freely  by  His  rational 
creatures,  and  therefore  does  not  constrain  their 
will:  He  leaves  them  free,  and  they  so  use  their 
freedom  as  to  hinder  the  acceptance  of  the  Gospel 
by  all  the  world. 

In  spite  of  the  great  difficulty  just  mentioned, 
the  Christian  religion  won  its  triumph,  and  this  in 
defiance  of  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  yet  unbroken 
Roman  Government.  There  has  been  much  con- 
troversy as  to  the  actual  number  of  martyrs  who 
suffered  in  the  various  persecutions  which  began 
under  Nero,  in  65,  and  did  not  end  until  Constantine, 
in  313,  issued  from  Milan  the  edict  which  secured 
toleration.  We  shall  not  enter  on  the  question, 
which  will  be  found  discussed  by  Father  Hurter  in 
a  dissertation  appended  to  the  fourth  volume  of  his 
Opuscula  Sanctorum  Patrum:  it  is  enough  for  our 
purpose  to  remark  that  Tacitus  speaks  (n.  42)  of  the 
vast  multitude  of  those  that  suffered  under  Nero ; 
and  that  Pliny  was  deterred  from  acting  on  his  own 
principles  in  Bithynia  by  the  multitude  of  those 
whom  he  would  have  been  forced  to  put  to  death. 

H  VOL.  I. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  EVIDENCES. 


The  Christian  Apologists  constantly  taunted  the 
tyrants  with  their  helplessness,  and  the  failure  of  all 
their  efforts  to  crush  the  rising  community;  these 
taunts  would  have  been  pointless  had  not  the 
Government  made  such  efforts,  and  yet  they  were 
boldly  and  publicly  addressed  to  men  who  knew  the 
truth  and  were  themselves  engaged  in  carrying  out 
the  measures  of  the  Government.  Thus  Tertullian 
told  the  Emperor  Septimus  Severus  what  the 
Emperor  must  have  felt  to  be  the  truth  :  "  You  mow 
us  down,  and  we  spring  up  in  greater  luxuriance  : 
each  drop  of  Christian  blood  that  you  shed  is  a  seed 
from  which  rises  a  harvest."  (Apol.  c.  50;  P.L.  i, 
555.)  This  strife  between  the  powers  of  the  world 
and  the  faith  of  Christ  began  yet  earlier  :  the  Jewish 
Council  commanded  the  Apostles  to  preach  no 
more,  and  were  met  by  the  question,  If  it  be  just  in 
the  sight  of  God  to  hear  you  rather  than  God,  judge 
ye.  No  answer  was  forthcoming,  so  they  had 
recourse  to  threats,  imprisonment,  and  scourging, 
and  they  did  not  heed  the  wise  advice  of  Gamaliel 
to  let  these  men  alone,  for  if  their  work  were  of  men, 
it  would  come  to  nought  :  it  has  not  come  to  nought, 
showing  that  it  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God.  The 
instructive  history  is  read  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

The  same  story  has  been  repeated  as  often  as 
the  State,  deserting  its  true  work,  has  usurped  the 
province  of  the  Church,  trying  to  be  master  where 
it  should  be  nursing-father.  (Isaias  xlix.  23.)  The 
phases  of  the  struggle  are  recounted  by  ecclesiastical 
historians;  those  who  have  maintained  so  unequal 


71]     BAD  EXAMPLE  AND  STATE  OPPOSITION.     99 

a  contest,  unique  in  the  world,  must  have  been 
supported  by  a  strength  which  is  more  than  natural. 
72. — Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
tried  to  show  that  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
Empire  to  the  Christian  Faith  was  itself  a  moral 
miracle,  proving  that  this  Faith  came  from  God ; 
especially  seeing  that  the  attempt  of  Gibbon  to 
account  for  this  success  by  natural  causes  is  a  failure. 
The  marvel  is  the  greater  when  we  remember  that 
this  success  was  foretold  by  prophecy;  that  it 
altered  the  whole  tone  of  society  in  many  con- 
spicuous points :  and  that  it  was  won  in  spite  of  the 
bad  lives  of  many  Christians,  in  defiance  of  the 
strenuous  opposition  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   CERTAINTY   OF   THE    CHRISTIAN    REVELATION. 

73.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  the 
force  of  the  word  "  certain  "  is  sketched,  and  it  is 
shown  that  the  Christian  Revelation  is  shown  to  be 
Divine  with  full  certainty. 

74.  Definitions. — We  will  now  see  what  has  been 
proved  by  the   preceding  chapters.     We  maintain 
that  miracles  and  prophecies  render  it  certain  that 
the  Christian  Revelation  is  Divine :  is  the  voice  of 
God    speaking    to    His    creature,    and    demanding 
attention  and  submission.      The  argument  admits 
of  indefinite  development,  but  enough  has  been  said 
to  show  its  nature.    This  all- important  word  certain, 
however,   admits  of  a  variety  of  meanings,  which 
must  be  clearly  understood.  If  I  consider  a  question 
which  admits  of  only  two  answers,   Yes  and   No, 
I  may  see  that  there  are  reasons  in  favour  of  Yes 
and  reasons  in  favour  of  No,  and  if  these  reasons 
are   equally  balanced,  or   nearly  so,   I    am   left   in 
doubt  as  to  the  answer,  and  am  in  no  sense  certain. 
But  it  may  be  that,  although  I  see  something  in 
favour  of  No,  yet  the  reasons  that  favour  Yes  are 
so  far  predominant  that   I   have   no   hesitation   in 
acting  as  if  Yes  were  the  truth,  at  the  same  time 


74]  DEFINITIONS. 


that  I  feel  a  misgiving  which  I  recognize  as  pmaent, 
that  possibly  No  may  be  the  truth.  In  this  case 
I  am  said  to  be  morally  certain  of  the  answer  Yes, 
in  one  sense,  and  that  the  looser  and  lower,  of  that 
much  abused  term ;  I  have  a  sort  of  certainty 
sufficient  to  direct  my  conduct  (mores).  If  I  pay 
money  into  a  bank  in  good  repute,  I  am  morally 
certain  that  my  cheques  will  be  honoured.  A 
Christian  must  have  more  than  this  lower  sort  of 
moral  certainty  of  the  fact  that  God  has  spoken : 
as  will  be  explained  in  the  Treatise  on  Faith. 

But  I  may  see  that  the  reasons  in  favour  of  Yes 
so  far  exceed  those  that  favour  No,  that  I  cannot 
prudently  attach  any  weight  to  these  latter.  If  I 
pleased,  I  might  by  an  effort  of  the  will  withdraw 
my  attention  from  all  that  favours  Yes,  and  fix  my 
attention  upon  what  favours  No,  but  I  feel  that 
such  a  use  of  my  will  would  be  imprudent,  and  not 
according  to  reason :  I  am  then  certain  of  the 
affirmative  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term.  The 
reasons  for  the  affirmative  may  be  derived  from 
the  nature  of  things,  and  the  certainty  is  termed 
metaphysical ;  or  from  the  rules  by  which  inanimate 
and  irrational  beings  act,  and  it  is  called  physical ; 
or  it  is  moral,  derived  from  what  we  know  of  the 
conduct  of  beings  that  are  rational  and  free.  Thus 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  is  metaphysically  certain; 
that  the  fire  will  burn  me  if  I  touch  it,  is  physically 
certain ;  while  it  is  morally  certain  that  my  bank 
has  failed,  if  the  newspapers  continue  for  three  days 
to  discuss  the  calamity.  The  action  of  those  con- 
cerned in  getting  up  the  papers  is  free,  but  it  would 


loa      THE  CERTAINTY  OF  CHRISTIAN  REVELATION.    [74 

be  imprudent  in  me  to  cling  to  any  hope  that  they 
were  conspiring  to  mislead  the  public.  It  is  in 
this  sense  that  we  assert  the  Divine  origin  of  the 
Christian  religion  to  be  certain,  with  moral  cer- 
tainty. 

Lastly,  the  reasons  for  the  affirmative  may  so 
wholly  outweigh  those  for  the  negative  as  to  destroy 
them,  or  rather,  there  may  be  strong  reasons  for 
the  affirmative,  and  no  reasons  at  all  that  make 
for  the  negative.  When  the  thing  comes  before  me 
in  this  shape  it  is  said  to  be  evident,  and  no  effort 
of  my  will  can  avail  to  hinder  my  assenting.  The 
axioms  of  geometry  are  metaphysically  evident :  the 
power  of  fire  to  burn  is  physically  evident :  the 
existence  of  America  is  morally  evident  to  those 
who  have  never  visited  the  country. 

75.  Cogency  of  the  Argument. — In  all  these  discus- 
sions it  is  understood  that  the  matter  is  sufficiently 
proposed  to  me  before  I  form  a  judgment:  reasons 
of  which  I  know  nothing  are  to  me  non-existent, 
and  do  not  affect  my  judgment.  In  saying  that  the 
laws  of  motion  are  physically  certain,  we  mean  to 
assert  our  belief  that  no  normally  constituted  man 
can  without  imprudence  doubt  them,  when  what  is 
to  be  said  upon  the  subject  is  brought  to  his  notice. 
So  with  the  Christian  evidences,  we  believe  that 
no  normally  constituted  man  can  know  and  weigh 
them,  and  yet  believe  that  it  would  be  consistent 
with  prudence  to  doubt  their  force.  The  matter  is 
not  evident :  it  does  not  force  itself  on  the  intellect, 
but  the  will  can,  if  it  pleases,  withdraw  attention 
from  the  argument  in  favour  of  the  Christian  claim 


75]  DEFINITIONS.  103 

and  fix  it  on  imaginary  difficulties.  If  it  were 
evident,  the  act  of  faith  would  no  longer  be  free, 
and  the  whole  economy  of  the  Christian  scheme 
would  be  upset.  (See  n.  316.)  But  although  not 
evident,  the  Revelation  cannot  prudently  be  rejected, 
and  there  is  therefore  a  duty  to  accept  it  with  all 
its  consequences.  What  these  consequences  are  we 
shall  inquire  in  future  Treatises;  accepting  as  a 
Divine  message  whatever  comes  to  us,  mediately  or 
immediately,  from  Christ  our  Lord. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  canons,  on  Faith,  of  the 
Vatican  Council  contain  among  other  things  the 
doctrine  of  this  chapter.  (Denz.  1660,  1661.)  The 
whole  matter  belongs  more  properly  to  the  sixth 
Treatise,  on  Faith,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred ; 
but  it  seemed  convenient  to  sum  up  the  result  of 
our  first  Treatise  in  this  place. 


TTreatisc  tbe  Second 
THE  CHANNEL  OF   DOCTRINB. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TRADITION. 

76.  Scope  of  the  Treatise. — All  Christians  are  in 
substantial  agreement  in  regard  to  the  matter  dealt 
with  in  the  preceding  Treatise.  There  may  be  one 
or  two  arguments  which  would  not  be  universally 
accepted,  but  the  general  conclusion  is  one  which 
will  not  be  questioned  by  any  that  bear  the  Christian 
name :  we  proved  that  Christ  was  certainly  a  Divine 
Messenger,  and  that  therefore  men  are  bound  to 
exert  themselves  to  inquire  what  message  He 
brought,  and  to  receive  it,  when  ascertained,  with 
implicit  submission.  And  it  is  the  interest  as  well 
the  duty  of  each  man  to  learn  what  the  Divine 
Teacher  delivered,  for  it  must  be  a  benefit  to  the 
creature  to  know  what  the  Creator  is  pleased  to 
communicate  to  him  ;  whether  it  be  an  enforcement 
of  truths  which  he  might  have  learned,  however 
imperfectly,  by  the  use  of  his  natural  powers ;  such 
as  some  of  the  attributes  of  God,  and  the  duty  of 
just  dealing :  or  new  truths  which  his  natural  powers 
would  never  have  discovered,  such  as  the  Trinity  of 


76]  SCOPE  OF  THE  TREATISE.  105 

Persons  in  One  God,  and  the  duty  of  receiving 
Baptism. 

But  Christ  died  many  centuries  ago.  How  are 
we  who  are  now  living  to  ascertain  what  His  teach- 
ing was?  There  must  be  some  way  of  doing  so 
without  reasonable  misgiving :  otherwise  the  revela- 
tion given  by  God  publicly  to  one  generation  would 
have  been  lost  to  future  generations,  and  so  far 
wasted. 

What,  then,  is  this  normal  way  of  learning  the 
doctrine  delivered  by  Christ  ?  All  Christians  have 
their  answer  to  this  question,  but  there  is  no  agree- 
ment among  them  as  to  what  this  answer  is.  The 
Christians  of  the  West  are  divided  into  two  great 
sections  upon  the  point.  Catholics  maintain  that 
the  man  now  living  obtains  the  information  primarily 
from 'the  lips  of  his  elder  contemporaries :  the  others 
hold  that  it  is  to  be  obtained  by  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  object  of  the  present  Treatise  is  to 
discuss  these  two  theories. 

In  this  discussion,  we  shall  not  only  use  the 
books  from  which  the  Divine  Mission  of  Christ  was 
proved  in  the  preceding  Treatise:  but  we  shall 
freely  employ  all  the  books  of  the  Scriptures  and 
of  early  Christian  writers  as  trustworthy  witnesses 
to  the  teachings  of  Christ :  the  authority  of  those 
books  for  that  purpose  is  admitted  by  those  with 
whom  we  have  here  to  do.  Our  next  Treatise  will 
be  devoted  to  the  questions  that  arise  as  to  the 
peculiar  character  that  attaches  to  the  books  of 
Holy  Scripture,  and  distinguishes  them  from  all 
other  books. 


io6  TRADITION.  [77 

77.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — The  present  chapter 
will    be    devoted    to   explaining  and    proving    the 
Catholic  doctrine :  in  that  which  follows  the  oppo- 
sing view  will  be  discussed.     It  will  be  convenient 
at  once  to    present  an   authoritative  statement  of 
the  rival  views. 

78.  The    Rival     Views. — The    doctrine    of    the 
Catholic    Church    on   the    subject    is    declared    by 
the    Council    of    Trent.      The    point    had    never 
been  expressly  defined  before  the  sixteenth  century 
because  it  had  never  been  called  in  question.     It  is 
found  in  the  decree  of  the  Fourth  Session,  held  on 
April  8,   1546.     We  will  take  the  translation  from 
the  work  of  the  Rev.  J.  Waterworth.  (Decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  p.  17.) 

"The  sacred  and  holy  oecumenical  and  general 
Synod  of  Trent,  lawfully  assembled  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  same  three  Legates  of  the  Apostolic  See 
presiding  therein — keeping  this  always  in  view  that, 
errors  being  removed,  the  purity  itself  of  the  Gospel 
be  preserved  in  the  Church ;  which  (Gospel)  before 
promised  through  the  prophets  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  first 
promulgated  with  His  own  mouth,  and  then  com- 
manded to  be  preached  by  His  Apostles  to  every 
creature,  as  the  fountain  of  all,  both  saving  truth 
and  moral  discipline ;  and  seeing  clearly  that  this 
truth  and  discipline  are  contained  in  the  written 
books  and  the  unwritten  traditions  which,  received 
by  the  Apostles  from  the  mouth  of  Christ  Himself, 
or  from  the  Apostles  themselves,  the  Holy  Ghost 
dictating,  have  come  down  even  unto  us,  transmitted 


78]  THE  RIVAL    VIEWS.  107 

as  it  were  from  hand  to  hand ;  (the  Synod)  following 
the  examples  of  the  orthodox  Fathers,  receives  and 
venerates  with  an  equal  affection  of  piety  and  rever- 
ence, all  the  books  both  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New 
Testament — seeing  that  one  God  is  the  Author  of 
both — as  also  the  said  traditions,  as  well  those 
appertaining  to  faith  as  to  morals,  as  having  been 
dictated  either  by  Christ's  own  word  of  mouth,  or 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  preserved  in  the  Catholic 
Church  by  a  continuous  succession." 

More  shortly,  we  may  say  that  according  to 
this  doctrine,  Christian  truth  was  delivered  to  the 
Apostles  by  the  spoken  word  of  Christ  or  by  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  it  has  come 
from  them  to  us,  partly  committed  to  written  books, 
and  partly  by  unwritten  tradition. 

The  opposed  view,  which  we  may  call  that  of 
Protestants,  is  held  by  almost  all  Western  Christians 
who  are  not  Catholics :  the  only  exceptions  being 
the  members  of  some  sects,  such  as  the  Irvingites 
and  Quakers,  who  seem  to  hold  that  God  inspires 
each  living  man  with  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
We  shall  say  what  is  necessary  concerning  these  in 
another  chapter,  when  we  prove  that  the  public 
revelation  of  Christian  doctrine  was  closed  on  the 
death  of  the  last  of  the  Apostles,  (nn.  in,  112.) 
An  expression  of  the  doctrine  which  will  be  admitted 
by  the  bulk  of  Protestants  is  found  in  the  Sixth  of 
the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  of  Religion  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  England.  It  runs  as  follows : 

"  Of  the  Sufficiency  of  Holy  Scripture  for  Salva- 
tion.— Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary 


io8  TRADITION.  (78 

to  salvation  ;  so  that  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein, 
nor  may  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of 
any  man,  that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  article 
of  the  Faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  necessary 
to  salvation." 

This  is  clearer  than  some  other  parts  of  these 
Articles  of  Religion.  The  doctrine  is  often  quoted 
in  the  form  ascribed  to  Chillingvvorth :  The  Bible, 
and  the  Bible  only,  is  the  religion  of  Protestants. 
We  shall  try  to  show  in  the  present  chapter  that 
the  Tridentine  method  is  that  employed  by  Christ, 
inculcated  by  Him  on  His  Apostles,  employed  by 
them,  again  inculcated  by  them  on  their  immediate 
successors,  employed  by  these  successors,  generation 
after  generation,  and  never  changed.  If  this  be 
made  out,  we  shall  have  demonstrated  that  the  way 
of  oral  tradition  is  the  appointed  way  even  at  the 
present  time.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  show 
the  weakness  of  the  arguments  adduced  in  support 
of  the  Protestant  view. 

79.  The  Method  used  by  Christ. — It  is  not  disputed 
that  Christ  taught  by  word  of  mouth.  There  is  no 
trace  of  any  writing  being  attributed  to  Him,  except 
the  undoubtedly  spurious  letter  to  King  Abgar  of 
Edessa.  The  text  of  this  alleged  letter  may  be  read 
in  Eusebius.  (Hist.  Eccl.  i,  13;  P.G.  20,  121.)  The 
letter  itself  bears  testimony  in  favour  of  our  con- 
tention ;  for  it  contains  no  instruction  in  Christian 
doctrine,  but  the  writer  is  made  to  promise  that  He 
will  in  due  time  send  one  of  His  disciples  to  instruct 
the  Syrian  convert :  on  the  Protestant  theory  there 
ought  to  have  been  a  promise  to  send  a  New  Testa- 


79]  THE  METHOD    USED  BY   CHRIST.  Iog 

ment  to  Edessa  as  soon  as  it  should  be  written. 
The  method  actually  used  by  Christ  is  to  appeal  to 
the  Old  Testament  (St.  John  v.  39 — 46),  for  the 
prophecies  contained  in  it,  along  with  His  own 
miracles,  were  His  credentials :  but  He  did  not 
appeal  to  it  as  teaching  His  doctrine ;  on  the  con- 
trary, He  asserted  His  authority  to  be  independent 
of  it,  or  collateral  with  it,  as  when  He  claimed  to  be 
Lord  of  the  divinely  instituted  Sabbath  (St.  Mark 
ii.  28 ;  St.  Luke  vi.  5) ;  and  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
abrogate  parts  of  the  Old  Law,  teaching  a  new 
and  high  morality  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
(St.  Matt.  v.  21,  27,  31,  33) ;  and  giving  the  Sama- 
ritan woman  to  understand  that  Jerusalem  was 
about  to  lose  the  prerogative,  given  it  long  ago  by 
God,  of  being  alone  the  place  where  acceptable 
worship  could  be  offered  to  the  Father.  (St.  John 
iv.  21 ;  Deut.  xii.  6.) 

80.  The  Charge  to  the  Apostles. — The  work  of 
Christ  was  to  be  supplemented  and  continued  by 
the  action  of  His  Apostles,  who  received  their 
charge  from  Him.  The  charge  as  to  the  work  they 
were  to  do  during  the  life  of  Christ  may  be  read  in 
the  tenth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  and  the 
ninth  chapter  of  that  of  St.  Luke :  the  sixth  chapter 
of  St.  Mark  adds  nothing  to  our  purpose.  In  these 
charges  we  find  that  the  Apostles  are  commanded 
to  preach  and  to  heal  the  sick :  that  is  to  say,  to 
exhibit  the  credentials  of  miracles,  and  to  deliver 
an  oral  message :  not  a  word  is  said  about  writing ; 
the  Apostles  are  not  commissioned  to  inculcate  the 
observance  of  the  Old  Law,  nor  to  promise  that 


I  io  TRADITION.  [80 

the  New  shall  be  put  into  book  form  and  distri- 
buted ;  and  we  learn  from  St.  Luke  ix.  6,  that  the 
Apostles  fulfilled  the  command  given  them. 

The  final  commission  was  given  to  the  Apostles 
by  our  Lord  immediately  before  His  Ascension. 
We  read  of  it  in  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20,  St.  Mark  xvi.  15, 
St.  Luke  xxiv.  47,  and  Acts  i.  8.  All  these  accounts 
agree  in  substance  with  the  terms,  of  the  earlier 
mission.  The  Apostles  are  not  to  write,  but  are  to 
preach,  to  bear  witness,  to  teach  or  make  disciples 
of  (futdrjTevffare.  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  29)  all  nations ; 
all  which  expressions  certainly  point  to  oral  instruc- 
tion. But  this  later  commission  contains  one  most 
important  element  which  is  absent  from  the  earlier. 
St.  John's  Gospel,  supplementing  the  Synoptics  in 
this  as  in  so  many  other  points,  tells  us  that  Christ 
promised  His  Apostles  that,  after  His  departure,  He 
would  send  them  another  Paraclete,  or  Comforter, 
to  abide  with  them  for  ever,  Who  should  teach 
them  all  things  and  bring  all  things  to  their  mind, 
whatsoever  Christ  should  have  said  to  them. 
(St.  John  xiv.  15 — 26.)  The  purpose  of  thii 
gracious  promise  is  seen  when  it  is  renewed  a 
part  of  the  great  commission  (Acts  i.  8),  and  w  , 
learn  that  it  is  to  be  through  the  abiding  presence 
of  this  Comforter  with  the  followers  of  Christ  that 
His  undertaking  is  to  be  fulfilled,  that  He  will  bo 
with  them  in  their  work  of  teaching  all  days,  even 
to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  (St.  Matt,  xxviii. 
20.)  There  will  be  much  to  be  said  about  this  text 
hereafter.  At  present  it  may  be  enough  to  remark 
that  this  phrase,  "  be  with  you,"  in  the  language  of 


8o]  THE  CHARGE  TO  THE  APOSTLES.  in 

Scripture,  imports  infallible  and  effectual  assistance : 
the  promise  given  in  this  form  is  never  followed  by 
failure.  (See  Genesis  xlviii.  21 ;  Amos  v.  14 ;  Zach. 
viii.  23,  &c.  The  full  list  of  the  passages  will  be 
found  in  Murray,  De  E celesta,  ii.  199 ;  and  see 
further,  n.  206.)  We  have  here  the  Divine  guarantee 
against  any  corruption  of  the  teaching  which  the 
Apostles  and  their  successors  are  to  impart  to  all 
nations  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world : 
the  tradition  that  they  hand  on  will  not  be  a 
tradition  of  men,  such  as  those  for  which  the 
Pharisees  made  void  the  commandment  of  God 
(St.  Matt.  xv.  6) ;  but  it  will  be  the  word  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Father,  speaking  through  His 
ministers.  (St.  Matt.  x.  20.) 

81.  Action  of  the  Apostles. — That  the  Apostles 
acted  on  this  commission  will  be  seen  in  almost 
every  chapter  of  the  Acts.  (See  Acts  i.  22,  ii.  14, 
iii.  12,  ix.  20,  &c.)  Nor  does  any  other  method 
appear  in  the  Epistles.  These  letters  were  for  the 
most  part  written  to  supplement  and  enforce  the 
writer's  preaching  (see  i  Cor.  xi.  2 ;  2  Cor.  xi.  4 ; 
Galat.  i.  8 ;  Ephes.  i.  13,  &c. ;  St.  James  i.  22 ; 
I  St.  Peter  i.  12 ;  2  St.  Peter  i.  21 ;  St.  Jude  i.  3) ; 
in  which  last  place  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
original  gives  the  force  of  "the  faith  which  once 
came  by  tradition"  (TrapaBoBefa-y),  the  word  em- 
ployed being  one  which  in  different  forms  is  not 
uncommon  in  the  New  Testament,  and  which,  when 
applied  to  the  faith,  always  signifies  oral  trans- 
mission. (See  St.  Matt.  xv.  2;  St.  Mark  vii.  5;  i  Cor. 
xi.  2,  23 ;  i  Cor.  xv.  3 ;  i  St.  Peter  i.  18.)  The  only 


ua  TRADITION.  [81 

exception  is  2  Thess.  ii.  15,  where  it  includes  both 
oral  teaching  and  the  teaching  of  a  written  docu- 
ment. 

Further,  the  Apostles  charged  their  own  imme- 
diate successors  to  observe  the  same  method, 
showing  hereby  that  its  efficacy  did  not  depend 
upon  any  peculiar  character  attaching  to  those  who 
had  received  the  charge  from  Christ  Himself,  but 
was  intended  to  be  a  part  of  the  permanent  economy 
of  the  Church.  This  is  seen  in  the  exhortation  of 
St.  Paul  to  his  disciple  St.  Timothy,  when  he  bids 
him  be  diligent  in  teaching  (i  Timothy  iv.  13),  to 
avoid  profane  novelties  of  words  (i  Timothy  vi.  20) ; 
but  especially  in  the  command  conveyed  in  the 
second  chapter  of  the  second  Epistle,  verse  2 : 
"  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me  by  many 
witnesses,  the  same  commend  to  faithful  men  who 
shall  be  fit  to  teach  others  also."  It  is  to  be 
remembered  that  at  the  time  when  this  charge 
was  given,  the  greater  part  of  the  New  Testament 
was  already  in  existence ;  yet  reference  is  still  made 
to  the  word  of  hearing  and  not  to  any  written  book. 

82.  The  Second  Century. — We  find  the  same 
method  in  full  vigour  in  the  second  century.  St. 
Clement  of  Rome,  the  disciple,  as  is  supposed, 
whom  St.  Paul  mentions  with  praise  (Philipp.  iv.  3), 
belongs  in  fact  to  the  first  century,  for  his  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  assigned  to  the  year 
97  at  the  latest.  Describing  the  constitution  of 
the  Church,  he  says  (c.  42;  P.G.  i,  292):  "The 
Apostles  brought  us  the  good  message  from  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Jesus  Christ  from  God.  Christ 


8zl  THE  SECOND  CENTURY.  XI j 

was  sent  from  God,  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  and 
the  will  of  God  was  duly  fulfilled  in  both  cases.  .  .  . 
They  preached  in  countries  and  in  towns,  and  the 
first-fruits  of  their  ministry,  having  tested  them  in 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  appointed  to  be 
overseers  and  ministers  to  all  that  should  believe." 
And  again  in  chapter  44:  "The  Apostles  made 
these  appointments  and  arranged  a  succession,  that 
when  they  had  fallen  asleep  other  tried  men  should 
carry  on  their  ministry."  (P.G.  I,  298.)  This  is  an 
exact  description  of  the  Catholic  system. 

St.  Irenseus  belongs  to  the  second  century.  He 
wrote  expressly  against  heresies,  and  he  knows  no 
other  source  of  truth  than  the  tradition  which  has 
come  down  from  the  Apostles.  "  All  that  have  the 
will  to  know  the  truth,"  he  says  (3,  3,  i ;  P.G. 
7,  848),  "  may  find  in  every  Church  the  tradition  of 
the  Apostles  which  is  known  to  all  the  world  :  we 
can  reckon  up  those  whom  the  Apostles  appointed 
to  be  Bishops  and  their  successors  down  to  our  own 
day,  who  never  taught  nor  knew  any  such  absurdi- 
ties as  these  men  indulge  in.  Had  the  Apostles 
known  secret  mysteries,  to  be  communicated  secretly 
to  the  perfect,  they  to  whom  the  Churches  were 
committed  would  assuredly  have  received  the  know- 
ledge. For  the  Apostles  resolved  that  their  succes- 
sors should  be  perfect  and  blameless  in  all,  when 
they  handed  to  these  their  own  function  of  teaching: 
for  if  these  acted  well  things  would  go  well,  but 
great  calamity  would  attend  their  fall."  Again  there 
is  nothing  about  the  Scriptures  being  the  rule  of 
faith. 

I  VOL.  I. 


114  TRADITION.  [83 

83.  Tertullian's  Prescription. — The  last  author  we 
cite  shall  be  Tertullian,  whose  work  belongs  to  the 
end  of  the  second  century.  He  wrote  a  formal 
treatise  on  the  argument  with  which  we  are  now 
engaged,  under  the  name  De  Prascriptionibus  (PX. 
2,  i.)  The  word  prescription  belongs  to  the  Roman 
law,  from  which  it  was  borrowed  by  Christian 
writers,  being  first  used  perhaps  by  Tertullian  in 
this  Treatise :  both  the  word  and  the  thing  are  in 
constant  use  by  theologians,  and  in  many  topics  no 
more  powerful  argument  can  be  found  than  that 
founded  on  prescription.  English  lawyers  give  the 
name  of  prescription  to  the  title  to  certain  forms  of 
property  founded  upon  lapse  of  time  with  undisturbed 
possession :  the  fact  that  I  have  held  the  property 
for  such  a  length  of  time  without  disturbance  will 
sometimes  be  an  answer  to  every  claim  that  can  be 
brought  against  me,  let  it  be  ever  so  well  founded. 
The  Latin  usage  includes  this,  but  is  wider,  extend- 
ing as  it  seems  to  every  case  where  a  defendant  in 
a  lawsuit  was  able  to  put  forward  a  consideration 
which  cut  the  matter  short  without  reference  to  the 
merits.  Thus  in  England  in  the  days  of  the  penal 
laws  the  plea  that  the  plaintiff  was  a  Popish  Recu 
sant  Convict  was  an  absolute  answer  to  every  claim, 
however  just;  and  this  would  have  been  a  case  of 
prescription  in  the  Roman  but  not  in  the  English 
sense. 

The  theological  use  of  the  word  is  this.  The 
prescription  of  novelty  is  against  any  doctrine  which 
can  be  shown  to  have  originated  at  a  time  subse- 
quent to  the  times  of  the  Apostles:  the  prescription 


83]  TERTULLIAN'S  PKESCRIPTION.  115 

of  antiquity  is  in  favour  of  a  doctrine  which  can  be 
shown  to  have  been  held  at  any  time  as  part  of 
their  faith  by  all  Christians,  even  though  it  cannot 
be  shown  to  have  been  held  at  any  earlier  date. 
The  reason  for  the  one  is  that  a  novel  doctrine 
would  require  to  be  authenticated  as  a  Divine 
revelation  by  miracle  and  prophecy,  no  less  than 
the  original  mission  of  Christ :  and  the  reason  of 
the  other  is  that  otherwise  the  promise  of  Christ  to 
be  with  His  Apostles  in  their  teaching  all  days 
would  have  failed,  through  an  admixture  of  false 
doctrine  having  polluted  the  true.  More  will  be 
said  on  this  subject  in  our  Treatise  on  the  Church. 
(See  n.  269.) 

The  application  of  this  principle  to  the  heresies 
of  his  time  is  made  by  Tertullian  in  the  nineteenth 
and  following  chapters  of  his  work.  He  declines 
to  argue  the  points  of  difference  on  the  basis  of 
Scripture,  for  to  do  so  gives  rise  to  endless  questions 
as  to  what  books  are  to  be  considered  authoritative 
and  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  passages  quoted. 
Neither  party  can  hope  to  gain  an  acknowledged 
victory  in  such  a  contest :  but  his  appeal  is  to  those 
to  whom  the  Scripture  belongs,  through  whom  it 
has  been  handed  down  to  us :  to  the  possessors 
of  the  tradition  which  makes  us  Christians.  These 
are  the  apostolic  Churches,  founded  in  various  cities 
throughout  the  world  by  those  who  received  the 
commission  from  Christ  Himself,  or  which  are 
shoots  or  suckers  proceeding  from  these  parent 
stems,  but  establishing  themselves  with  a  separate 
life.  Peaceful  communication  and  recognition  of 


n6  TRADITION.  (83 

brotherhood  and  the  tokens  which  secure  admission 
to  membership  prove  the  unity  of  the  association 
constituted  by  these  several  Churches.  What  is 
taught  in  these  mother  Churches  is  truth,  all  else  is 
falsehood. 

84.  The  work  of  Theology. — It  follows  from  what 
has  been  said  that  to  ascertain  the  truth  on  any 
point  of  doctrine  it  is  enough  to  inquire  what  is 
held  upon  the  subject  by  Christian  communities 
throughout  the  world ;  and  in  this  inquiry  no 
account  need  be  taken  of  communities  which, 
although  they  keep  the  name  of  Christian,  hold 
doctrines  which  are  new,  that  is  to  say,  opposed  to 
what  at  some  previous  time  was  the  universal  belief. 
All  this  will  be  better  understood  when  we  have 
explained  the  pre-eminent  position  held  by  the 
Roman  Church  and  its  Bishop,  the  Pope. 

But  although  this  inquiry  teaches  us  with  abso- 
lute assurance  what  is  the  tradition  that  has  come 
to  us  from  the  Apostles;  and  although  the  ex- 
cathedral  definition  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  affords  us 
a  compendious  way  of  knowing  what  would  be  the 
result  of  such  an  inquiry ;  yet  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  our  doctrine  leaves  no  place  for  the 
work  of  theologians.  Let  the  three  modes  of  treat- 
ment of  theological  questions  be  called  to  mind,  as 
described  in  our  Introductory  Remarks  (n.  6),  and 
it  will  be  found  that  they  are  still  applicable,  even 
after  an  infallible  definition.  The  definition  makes 
us  certain  what  is  the  truth  upon  the  point,  and 
that  this  truth  is  contained  in  the  Apostolic  Tradi- 
tion ;  but  Positive  Theology  will  still  have  its  work 


84]  THE   WORK  OP  THEOLOGY.  117 

of  showing  how  this  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  the 
monuments  of  this  Tradition ;  Scholastic  Theology 
fixes  the  precise  sense  of  the  terms  employed,  inves- 
tigates the  causes  of  the  doctrine,  in  the  philosophical 
sense  of  the  word  cause,  and  shows  how  it  is  con- 
nected with  other  branches  of  truth ;  while  Polemical 
Theology  strives  to  enter  into  the  minds  of  those 
who  have  a  difficulty  in  admitting  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine,  explaining  and  illustrating  it  in  various 
ways  so  as  to  guard  against  all  risk  of  misunder- 
standing, and  urging  the  argutnentum  ad  hominem,  by 
showing  the  dissentients  that  on  principles  which 
they  avow  that  they  admit,  they  ought  to  accept 
what  we  maintain.  After  the  definition,  the  theolo- 
gian is  encouraged  to  proceed  with  his  work  with 
greater  confidence  than  he  could  have  felt  while  the 
point  was  yet  in  doubt :  he  is  by  no  means  disposed 
to  consider  that  his  work  is  done. 

85.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have  set 
forth  the  rival  views  of  Catholics  and  Protestants 
as  to  the  Rule  of  Faith,  and  have  proved  that  the 
Catholic  view  was  acted  on  by  Christ,  His  Apostles, 
and  their  immediate  successors :  we  have  explained 
the  meaning  of  the  word  prescription  and  how  it  is 
employed  in  Theology,  as  affording  a  short  and  sure 
way  of  settling  any  disputed  point ;  and  we  have 
shown  that  this  prescription  makes  for  the  Catholic 
Rule  and  that  our  doctrine  by  no  means  supersedes 
the  work  of  Positive,  Scholastic,  and  Polemical 
theologians. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   PROTESTANT   RULE   OF   FAITH. 

86.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  the  last  chapter 
we  showed  that  the  true  Rule  of  the  Christian  faith 
is  the  living  voice  of  the  Church  of  the  present  day 
proclaiming  the  tradition  received  from  preceding 
generations,  and   divinely   guaranteed    from    error. 
In  the   present  chapter  we  shall  prove  this  more 
fully  by  examining  the  arguments  adduced  for  the 
Protestant  view,  which  is  the  only  rival  of  that  held 
by  Catholics.     This  view  makes  the  Bible  only  be 
the  Rule  of  Faith.     After  stating  some  preliminary 
objections  to  this  view,  we  shall  discuss  the  argu- 
ments in  its  favour  as  given  in  Dr.  Harold  Browne's 
Exposition    of    the    Thirty -nine    Articles,    the    most 
authoritative  work  upon  the  subject,  and  show  that 
they  fail  to  prove  the  point. 

87.  The  Protestant  Rule  not  Scriptural. — As  was 
before  remarked,  the  Rule  is  expressed  with  perfect 
accuracy  by  the  oft-quoted  words  of  Chillingworth  : 
"The  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  is  the  religion  of 
Protestants."     This  then  is  a  fundamental  part  of 
their  religion  ;  that  the  whole  of  it  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Bible.     It  is  therefore  curious  to  remark  that 
this  principle  itself  is  not  found  in  the  Bible ;  nor, 
in  fact,  is  there  any  pretence  for  saying  that  it  is 


87]       THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  NOT  SCmPTVRAL.        11$ 

found.  The  Bible  cannot  lay  down  this  principle 
without  speaking  of  itself  as  a  whole ;  but  it  does 
not  do  so;  there  is  no  passage  that  so  much  as 
hints  at  the  existence  of  any  complete  collection  of 
the  inspired  Books  of  the  New  Law,  and  in  fact 
there  is  no  likelihood  that  any  such  collection  was 
made  until  long  after  the  death  of  the  last  Apostle. 
St.  Peter,  it  is  true  (2  St.  Peter  iii.  16),  speaks  of 
there  being  things  hard  to  understand  "in  all  the 
Epistles  "  of  St.  Paul ;  but  this  reference,  whatever 
it  point  to,  is  by  no  means  enough  to  establish  the 
Protestant  Rule.  It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to 
mention  the  almost  childish  use  that  has  sometimes 
been  made  of  the  passage  of  the  Apocalypse  (xxii. 
18,  19),  where  a  curse  is  denounced  against  any 
man  who  should  add  to,  or  take  away  from,  the 
words  of  the  book  of  that  prophecy :  the  book  here 
referred  to  is  obviously  the  Apocalypse  itself,  and 
not  all  that  is  contained  in  that  collection  of  books 
which  we  call  the  Bible.  The  Apocalypse  is  probably 
put  last  in  the  collection  because  there  is  no  other 
book  of  the  same  nature,  and  because  there  was  an 
impression,  not  improbably  correct,  that  it  was  the 
last  to  be  written ;  and  even  if  the  verses  just 
referred  to,  spoke  of  the  whole  collection,  the  woe 
would  fall  upon  any  one  who  put  a  book  forward  as 
inspired  which  had  no  just  claim  to  that  title;  it 
would  not  touch  one  who  maintained  that  a  portion 
of  God's  revelation  had  never  been  recorded  by  any 
inspired  writer,  which  is  the  Catholic  position. 

88.  Prescription.  —  Further,    Prescription    is    in 
favour  of  the  Catholic  view,  and  opposed  to  that  of 


120  THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OF  FAITH.  (86 

the  Protestants,  for  there  certainly  was  a  time  when 
the  Protestant  Rule  was  not  known.  We  have  seen 
(n.  80)  that  the  Apostles  acted  upon  the  Catholic 
principle,  urging  the  claim  of  the  living  teacher  to 
obedience,  and  the  practice  of  the  Church  was  the 
same  in  subsequent  ages.  Among  the  scanty  records 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  first  General  Council  held 
at  Nice,  in  325,  we  find  no  trace  of  appeal  being 
made  to  Scripture  as  the  sole  authority ;  and  we 
learn  from  St.  Athanasius,  who  was  present,  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  business  of  the  Council, 
that  when  the  Arianizing  party  wished  to  use  none 
but  Scriptural  language  in  the  definition  of  faith, 
the  assembled  Bishops  refused  to  admit  the  prin- 
ciple, and  chose  the  word  consubstantial,  which, 
though  old,  was  not  Scriptural.  (St.  Athan.  Epistola 
ad  Afros  Episcopos,  n.  6 ; .  P.G.  26,  1040.)  Also, 
Socrates  (Hist.  Eccl.  I,  10 ;  P.G.  67,  100),  and 
Sozomen  (Hist.  Eccl.  i,  22 ;  P.G.  67,  924)  tell  how 
cordially  Acesius,  the  Bishop  of  the  schismatical 
Novatians,  accepted  the  definition  of  the  Council ; 
and  he  added  the  reason,  that  it  was  nothing  new, 
but  was  the  tradition  which  had  come  down  to  him 
from  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  One  who  was 
familiar  with  the  Protestant  Rule  would  not  have 
spoken  in  this  way. 

The  second  General  Council,  held  at  Constanti- 
nople in  381,  accepts  the  faith  defined  at  Nice, 
because  it  is  ancient.  (Hardouin's  Councils,  I,  824.) 
In  the  third,  held  at  Ephesus  in  431,  the  Bishops 
accepted  the  exposition  of  the  Nicene  faith  sent  to 
thc-.i  by  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  giving  for  reason 


88]  PRESCRIPTION.  121 

that  it  was  in  accord  with  what  the  Church  had 
always  held  from  the  beginning,  with  the  primitive 
tradition  which  was  preserved  incorrupt  among 
Christians.  (Ibid.  I,  1365.)  Quotations  of  this  sort 
might  be  multiplied  indefinitely ;  what  we  have 
adduced  are  enough  to  show  that  the  Council  of 
Trent  introduced  no  novelty  when  in  the  proemium 
to  the  decree  on  Justification  adopted  in  the  fifth 
session,  it  professed  its  intention  of  expounding  that 
true  and  sound  doctrine  which  Christ  taught,  which 
the  Apostles  handed  down,  and  which  the  Catholic 
Church,  under  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ever 
retained.  The  Vatican  Council  also  acted  on  the 
old  principle  when  it  declared  (Const,  i,  c.  4,  de 
Fide  et  Rations)  that  the  doctrine  of  faith  revealed 
by  God  was  a  deposit  entrusted  by  Christ  to  His 
Church,  to  be  faithfully  kept  and  declared  with 
infallible  certainty. 

What  has  been  said,  makes  it  clear  that  the 
Catholic  Rule  is  in  possession  ;  no  one  can  assign  a 
time  when  it  was  not  in  use.  The  Protestant  Rule, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  barred  by  prescription  :  it  is 
discredited  as  a  novelty.  Nothing  can  restore  its 
credit  except  proof  that  a  new  revelation  has  been 
given  by  God,  abolishing  the  old  economy,  and 
establishing  the  new  in  its  place.  We  shall  now 
proceed  to  show  how  very  little  there  is  that  can  be 
found  to  say  on  behalf  of  the  Protestant  Rule. 

89.  Scripture. — We  will  first  consider  the  texts  of 
Scripture  which  are  alleged  to  prove  the  sufficiency 
of  the  written  word.  They  will  be  found  collected 
in  Dr.  Browne's  work  on  the  Articles,  in  the  dis- 


ttt  THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OP  FAITH.  (89 

cussion  of  the  Sixth  Article.  We  will  copy  them 
as  they  stand  in  the  Protestant  authorized  version, 
to  prevent  all  dispute,  but  we  shall  group  them  in 
such  manner  as  will  remove  the  necessity  of  repeti- 
tion of  our  remarks.  We  shall  find  that  not  one  of 
the  texts  is  opposed  to  our  doctrine. 

I.  Thus  the  Scripture  tells  us,  that  if  men  speak 
not  according  to  the  law  and  the  testimony,  it  is 
because  they  have  no  light  in  them  (Isaias  viii.  20) ; 
that  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect  (Psalm  xviii.  7) ; 
that  the  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto 
salvation  (2  Timothy  iii.  15);  and  that  it  was  a  great 
privilege  of  the  Jews  that  to  them  were  committed 
the  oracles   of   God.   (Romans  iii.  I.)      But   these 
passages  are  not  to  the  purpose,  for  they  all  refer  to 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  for  St.  Timothy 
cannot  have  learned  the  New  Testament  from  his 
childhood  ;    if,  then,  they   have  any  bearing  upon 
our  question,  they  prove  that  the  Christian  Revela- 
tion   contained    nothing  new,   which   will   not    be 
maintained.    They  in  fact  teach  us  no  more  than 
that  the    Holy   Scriptures  are   profitable    reading, 
which  we  not  only  admit,  but  maintain,  provided 
they  are  read  under  proper  safeguards.     All  good 
things  may  be  abused,  and  the  reading  of  Scripture 
is  no  exception. 

II.  Again,    St.   Luke    wrote    his    Gospel   that 
Theophilus  might  know  the  certainty  of  the  things 
in  which  he   had   been    instructed  ;    and   St.  Peter 
wrote    his    second    Epistle   that    those   whom    he 
addressed  might  be  able,  after  his  decease,  to  have 
those  things  always  in  remembrance.  (2  St.  Peter  i. 


89]  SCRIPTURE.  1*3 

15.)  This  last  passage  is  obscure,  and  has  received 
more  than  one  interpretation,  as  may  be  seen  in 
Cornelius  a  Lapide  ;  but  it  certainly  cannot  put  the 
matter  higher  than  it  is  put  by  St.  Luke,  and  he 
teaches  us  no  more  than  that  writing  is  one  useful 
way  of  preserving  tradition ;  and  we  know  that 
God  has  seen  fit  to  use  it ;  but  St.  Luke  does  not 
tell  us  that  it  is  the  only  means,  and  if  he  did  say 
so,  he  would  at  the  same  time  say  that  his  Gospel 
contained  the  whole  of  Christian  truth,  making  all 
subsequent  writings  superfluous.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  St.  John  xx.  31. 

III.  In  Deut.  iv.  2,  we  are  warned  not  to  add 
to  the  word  which  the  Lord  commands ;  and  the 
Pharisees  are  reproved  for  teaching  for  doctrines 
the  commandments  of  men.  (St.  Matt.  xv.  9),  and 
thus  making  the  word  of  God  of  none  effect  by 
their  tradition  (St.  Mark  vii.  13) ;  along  with  which 
passages  Dr.  Browne  also  quotes  the  verse  of  the 
Apocalypse  (xxii.  18)  on  which  we  have  commented 
(n.  87),  at  the  same  time  that  he  confesses  that  it 
may  apply  only  to  the  book  in  which  it  occurs  :  as 
we  explained.  These  texts  expose  the  crime  of 
those  who  add  to  the  Divine  word  by  setting  up 
inventions  of  their  own  as  Divine  revelations,  but 
they  do  not  touch  those  who  proclaim  a  truly 
Divine  revelation  which  they  have  received  in  addi- 
tion to  what  had  already  been  committed  to  writing; 
if  they  forbid  all  addition  to  the  Old  Law,  the 
Christian  Revelation  falls  under  the  condemnation. 

It  is  worth  while  to  notice  that  in  the  verse 
of  St.  Matthew,  where  .the  authorized  version  has 


i24  THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OP  FAITH.  [89 

"teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men,"  the  equally  Protestant  revised  version  has 
"teaching  as  their  doctrines,"  while  the  Greek 
original  is  merely  "  teaching  doctrines  command- 
ments ; "  the  Vulgate,  followed  by  the  Douay 
version,  has  "doctrines  and  commandments,"  which 
is  in  accord  with  the  Septuagint  version  of  the 
passage  in  Isaias  (xxix.  13)  from  which  the  words 
are  taken ;  the  Hebrew  has  "  commandment  of 
men,  doctrine."  It  will  be  observed  that  among 
these  versions  it  is  the  authorized  that  makes  most 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  cited  by  Dr.  Browne, 
and  in  fact  the  words  are  one  of  the  main  supports 
of  the  Protestant  cause.  Dr.  Alford  (ad  loc.)  con- 
fesses that  the  words  are  in  apposition,  whereas 
both  the  Protestant  versions  make  "  doctrines  "  a 
predicate. 

IV.  We  have  just  seen  an  instance  whcie  a 
translator  appears  to  have  been  influenced  by  a 
doctrinal  bias.  The  first  text  in  the  next  group 
shows  the  hopelessness  of  every  attempt  to  r/iake  a 
translation  "  without  note  or  comment,"  as  is 
required  by  the  Protestant  Rule.  The  passage  is 
found  in  St.  John  (v.  39),  and  is  rendered  in  the 
authorized  version,  "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  as  if 
it  were  a  command.  It  may  be  so,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  certain.  Dr.  Browne  tells  us  that  "  it  may 
be,  and  very  likely  ought  to  be  translated,  '  Ye 
search  the  Scriptures,' "  merely  stating  what  was 
the  practice  of  the  Pharisees.  Neither  the  form  of 
the  verb  (epevvdre)  nor  the  context  decides  the 
question ;  yet  the  authorized  version  gives  the 


Sg]  SCRIPTURE.  115 

rendering  which  seems  to  favour  the  Protestant 
view,  without  any  hint  that  any  other  view  is 
possible.  The  revised  version  is  fairer,  giving  both 
the  alternative  renderings,  as  is  done  also  by  the 
Douay  translators,  who  found  the  same"  ambiguity 
in  the  Latin  (scrutamini) ;  but  by  the  course  adopted, 
the  revisers  have  acknowledged  their  inability  to 
give  a  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  thus  exhibiting 
a  fatal  flaw  in  the  Protestant  system  of  private 
judgment.  The  great  bulk  of  men  must  exercise 
their  judgment  on  the  translation,  and  Here  it  is 
confessed  that  the  work  of  translating  is  impossible. 
Every  translation  is  in  truth  a  commentary,  and 
the  commentator  is  sometimes  at  a  loss,  and  some- 
times prejudiced  and  fraudulent,  (n.  156.) 

But  even  if  the  passage  be  taken  as  giving  a 
command,  the  sense  ascribed  to  it  by  St.  Augustine, 
St.  Chrysostom,  and  Theophylact,  as  may  be  seen 
in  a  Lapide,  it  fails  to  bear  out  the  Protestant 
advocate.  The  meaning  is  the  same  as  that  con- 
veyed by  the  place  in  St.  Matthew  (xxii.  29),  where 
our  Lord  points  out  that  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures 
is  the  cause  of  error ;  and  to  the  same  effect,  the 
Beroeans  are  praised  (Acts  xvii.  n)  because  they 
"searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  these  things 
were  so."  All  these  passages  refer  to  Jews  who 
admitted  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  who 
ought  to  have  found  enough  in  these  books  to  lead 
them  to  accept  Christ  as  the  Deliverer  promised  by 
the  Prophets.  The  Beroeans  did  not  search  the 
Scripture  to  verify  the  doctrine  preached  by  St.  Paul, 
such  as  the  necessity  of  Baptism  ;  and  had  they 


126  THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OF  FAITH.  [8g 

done  so  they  would  have  been  disappointed,  for 
the  Old  Testament  does  not  teach  the  necessity 
of  Christian  Baptism  ;  but  they  searched  to  see 
whether  the  prophecies  quoted  by  St.  Paul  bore  the 
meaning  which  he  put  upon  them,  for  this  being 
ascertained,  his  authority  to  teach  followed  without 
further  proof.  (See  Acts  xiii.  32  ;  xvii.  2,  3  ;  xviii. 
28  ;  xxvi.  27 ;  also  n.  204.)  In  the  same  way,  we 
have  appealed  to  the  Scriptures  in  our  last  chapter 
as  establishing  the  Catholic  Rule  of  Faith,  and  wt 
shall  make  the  same  appeal  when  treating  of  the 
Church,  and  elsewhere.  It  is  an  appeal  which  will 
not  be  declined  by  those  to  whom  our  argument  is 
addressed. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  St.  Paul  makes  no  use 
of  the  Old  Testament  when  addressing  Gentiles  in 
proof  of  his  mission ;  for  instance,  when  at  Athens, 
he  quotes  the  Greek  poet  (Acts  xvii.  28)  as  an 
authority  having  weight  with  his  hearers,  but  he 
makes  no  reference  to  the  Prophets,  of  whom  they 
knew  nothing. 

90.  Reason. — Having  exhausted  his  Scriptural 
arguments,  Dr.  Browne  attempts  to  show  that 
Reason  favours  the  Protestant  view,  and  first  he 
says  that  Tradition  is  proverbially  uncertain,  and 
that  it  failed  to  maintain  purity  of  doctrine  under 
the  Old  Law,  whereas  Scripture  has  secured  us  a 
knowledge  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Trinity, 
Incarnation,  and  many  more.  We  reply  that  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  case  with  Tradition  under 
the  Old  Lawx  that  of  the  New  Law  has  no  uncer- 
tainty if,  as  we  hold,  it  has  been  divinely  guaranteed 


go]  REASON.  127 

to  us;  and  that  Scripture,  apart  from  the  living 
voice  of  a  teacher,  has  wholly  failed  to  keep  the 
.great  doctrines  alive;  for  these  doctrines  are  rejected 
by  many  who  hold  Scripture  in  reverence,  but  refuse 
to  listen  to  Tradition.  To  our  argument  that  Tradi- 
tion was  the  first  rule,  he  replies  that  it  may  have 
been  changed,  but  he  offers  no  proof  that  it  actually 
was  changed ;  he  admits  that  Scripture  is  not 
written  systematically,  but  urges  that  this  casual 
collection  of  memoirs  and  letters  may,  under  God's 
providence,  have  been  so  ordered  as  to  convey  all 
Christian  truth.  No  one  would  deny  that  this  may 
have  been  so,  but  the  question  is,  whether  we  have 
any  reason  to  believe,  in  defiance  of  appearances, 
that  it  was  so.  He  thinks  that  Apostolic  authorship 
is  sufficient  to  establish  the  character  of  a  book  as 
being  a  portion  of  the  Scripture ;  unaware,  it  would 
seem,  that  Apostolic  authorship  is  by  no  means 
identical  with  inspiration,  the  special  character  of 
Scripture.  It  would  seem  that  Dr.  Browne  has 
failed  to  grasp  our  idea  of  Tradition,  as  being  the 
voice  of  the  living  Church,  for  he  seems  to  think 
that  it  is  to  be  searched  for  in  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers,  whereas  we  hold  that  the  voice  of  the 
Church  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  as  authoritative 
us  that  of  the  Church  of  the  second  century.  The 
voice  of  the  living  man  tells  us  what  is  the  truth  ; 
the  researches  of  the  theologian  may  go  to  show 
us  that  this  truth  was  explicitly  known  fifteen 
hundred  years  ago,  but  our  faith  does  not  rest  on 
his  researches. 

91.    The    Fathers.  —  Dr.  Browne    quotes    some 


128  THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OF  FAITH.  [91 


passages  from  the  Fathers  as  showing  that  they 
looked  on  Scripture  as  the  exclusive  Rule.  We 
will  not  go  through  them  all.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  some  mean  that  all  things  are  contained  in 
Scripture,  inasmuch  as  it  is  by  Scripture  that  we 
know  the  Divine  origin  of  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation. There  are  others  which  speak  of  the  per- 
fection of  Scripture.  Scripture  being  the  work  of 
God,  is  certainly  perfect  with  the  perfection  which 
God  designed  for  it ;  but  whether  it  was  designed 
to  contain  all  Christian  truth  is  the  point  in  question. 
Lastly,  when  the  Fathers  combat  a  heretic  who  is 
setting  up  a  doctrine  which  is  avowedly  not  con- 
tained in  Tradition,  they  may  challenge  him  to 
adduce  Scripture  proof  for  it,  by  way  of  illustrating 
the  want  of  all  basis  for  his  novel  speculations. 

92.  Recapitulation. — In  this  polemical  chapter, 
we  have  shown  that  the  Protestant  Rule  is  not 
Scriptural,  and  that  Prescription  is  against  it ;  after 
which  we  have  dealt  with  what  Dr.  Browne  has 
found  to  urge  in  favour  of  his  Rule,  from  Scripture, 
Reason,  and  the  Fathers. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION. 

93.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — We  have  seen  (n.  6) 
that  it  is  the  work  of  the  Positive   theologian  to 
investigate  the  monuments  of  Tradition,  and  show 
that  the  faith  of  the  Church  held  at  the  present 
day  has  been  held  with  more  or  less  explicitness 
in  all  former  ages,  or  at  any  rate   has   not   been 
contradicted.     In  the  present  chapter,  and  the  next, 
we  shall  discuss  the  materials  that  he  uses  in  this 
work.     Far  the  principal  among  these  is  the  Holy 
Scripture,  the  relations  of  which  to  Tradition  shall 
form  the   subject  of  the   following   chapter;    next 
come  the  writings  of  those  men  of  theological  learning 
of  the  earlier  times  of  the  Church  who  go  by  the 
name  of  Fathers,  with  whom  we  shall  be  chiefly 
occupied  during  the  present  chapter ;  but  first  some- 
thing must  be  said  concerning  some  monuments  of 
Tradition  which  admit  of  shorter  treatment. 

94.  Formal    Definitions.  —  The     most     explicit 
declaration  of  the  consent  of  the  living  Church  is 
obtained  when  an  express  definition  of  doctrine  is 
put  forward,  or  an  anathema  is  pronounced  on  error. 
This  may  be  done   by  the  Roman   Pontiff,  either 
acting  alone,  as  when,  in  1854,  Pius  IX.  defined  the 

J  VOL.  I. 


130  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [94 

doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception;  or  con- 
firming the  decrees  of  a  General  Council,  as  the 
decrees  of  the  Vatican  Council  of  1870  were  con- 
firmed by  the  same  Pontiff.  When  a  doctrine  is 
defined  in  this  manner,  it  becomes  part  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  the  denial  of  which  is  the  sin  and 
crime  of  heresy. 

95.  The  Liturgy  and  Ritual. — It  is  a  principal 
part  of  the  work  of  the  Church  to  direct  the  devo- 
tions of  the  Christian  people;  whence  it  follows 
that  whatever  doctrine  can  be  deduced  from  the 
prayers  and  ceremonies  sanctioned  for  use  in  any 
country,  must  be  supposed  to  be  the  belief  of  the 
people  of  that  country ;  and  the  Sacred  Liturgy  and 
Ritual,  so  far  as  they  are  common  to  the  Universal 
Church,  guide  us  to  a  knowledge  of  what  the 
Church  holds.  This  principle  is  set  forth  in  a  letter 
written  by  Pope  St.  Celestine,  about  the  year  431, 
to  certain  Bishops  of  Gaul,  in  which  he  argues 
against  the  Pelagians  for  the  necessity  of  grace, 
and  founds  an  argument  upon  what  he  calls  "  the 
sacraments,  or  mysteries,  of  the  prayers  of  priests, 
handed  down  from  the  Apostles,  and  in  constant 
use  throughout  the  world  and  in  every  orthodox 
Church,  so  that  the  law  guiding  our  supplications 
affords  a  rule  for  our  belief."  (St.  Cosiest.  I.  Epist. 
21;  P.L.  50,  537;  Denz.  95.)  Thus,  the  genuflection 
of  the  priest  immediately  after  he  has  pronounced 
the  words  of  institution  in  the  Mass,  shows  that 
now  for  the  first  time  there  is  an  Object  on  the 
altar  deserving  reverence;  nor  can  it  be  doubted 
that  this  reverence  is  an  act  of  latria,  or  Divine 


95]  THE  LITURGY  AND  RITUAL.  131 

worship,  offered  to  our  Lord,  really  present.  This 
particular  ceremony  has  not  always  been  in  use; 
and  although  its  presence  is  a  proof  that  the  belief 
which  it  symbolizes  is  held,  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  its  absence  from  the  liturgy  at  any 
particular  date  gave  any  indication  that  at  this  date 
the  belief  was  unknown.  Its  presence  has  a  positive 
force,  its  absence  has  no  force  at  all. 

96.  History. — The  importance  of  history  as  a 
source  of  knowledge  of  the  doctrine  held  by  the 
Church  in  former  times,  scarcely  needs  illustration. 
It  may  be  enough  to  mention  the  story  of  the 
finding  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Jerusalem,  by  the 
Empress  St.  Helena.  This  is  mentioned  by  St. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  more  than  once,  and  he  was 
writing  on  the  spot  about  the  year  345,  or  twenty 
years  after  the  event  (see  Catech.  Myst.  4,  10,  10,  19, 
13,  4;  P.G.  33,  467,  685,  776),  and  later,  but  with 
fuller  detail,  by  Sulpicius  Severus  (Hist.  Sacr.  2,  34; 
P.L.  20,  148),  from  whom  the  story  passed  into 
ordinary  history.  Whether  or  not  we  think  that 
these  authorities  outweigh  the  negative  argument 
drawn  from  the  silence  of  Eusebius  in  the  passage 
(De  Vita  Constantini,  cc.  42 — 46;  P.G.  20,  1101 — 
1105)  where  he  describes  the  pious  munificence  of 
St.  Helena  on  occasion  of  her  visit  to  the  Holy 
Places,  it  is  at  least  clear  that  St.  Cyril  and  Sulpicius 
regarded  it  as  natural  that  the  holy  Empress  should 
esteem  and  honour  the  sacred  relic;  and  this  in- 
direct testimony  of  history  is  often  of  no  less  value 
than  its  uncontroverted  statements.  A  forger  or 
inventor  will  set  down  nothing  which  does  not  at 


i3a  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [96 

least   seem  to   his  contemporaries  to  be  what   is 
likely  to  have  happened. 

There  is  a  remark  which  is  true  of  all  sciences, 
but  which  finds  special  application  to  the  science 
of  history.  An  imperfect  acquaintance  with  the 
science  may  seem  to  raise  difficulties  against  the 
truths  of  faith,  but  a  fuller  acquaintance  with  its 
teaching  causes  these  difficulties  to  disappear.  Truth 
can  never  contradict  truth,  and  the  supernatural 
teachings  of  faith  will  never  be  found  in  opposition 
to  natural  knowledge,  provided  this  is  certain,  and 
not  mere  fancy. 

A  peculiar  character  attaches  to  that  branch 
of  history  which  is  concerned  with  the  lives  and 
deaths  of  martyrs,  who  laid  down  their  life  for 
the  faith.  When  these  men  were  brought  before 
governors  and  kings,  to  answer  for  their  neglect  to 
comply  with  the  laws,  it  was  not  they  that  spoke, 
but  the  Holy  Ghost.  (St.  Mark  xiii.  n.)  Hence  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  Church  has  always  been 
diligent  in  collecting  the  "  Acts "  of  the  martyrs ; 
and  amidst  much  that  cannot  be  trusted,  many 
documents  of  undoubted  antiquity  survive,  detailing 
the  circumstances  under  which  each  attained  his 
victory.  The  narratives  are  most  interesting  and 
full  of  instruction  on  various  subjects ;  and  among 
the  rest  they  incidentally  throw  much  light  upon 
the  belief  of  the  Church  at  the  time.  Anastasius, 
in  his  Lives  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  names  St. 
Clement  as  having  assigned  the  seven  regions  of 
the  city  to  seven  Christian  notaries,  or  shorthand 
writers,  whose  business  was  to  set  down  the  story 


96]  HISTORY.  133 

of  the  martyrs.  (P.L.  127,  1079.)  This  would  have 
been  in  the  first  century.  St.  Aneros  is  said  by 
the  same  authority  (Ibid.  1331)  to  have  lost  his  life 
in  237,  a  victim  to  his  zeal  in  securing  the  safe 
custody  of  the  notarial  reports ;  and  St.  Fabian,  in 
the  following  year,  is  reported  to  have  appointed 
seven  subdeacons  to  superintend  the  seven  notaries. 
These  notices,  however,  cannot  be  trusted  as  being 
historical,  so  far  as  names  and  dates  go ;  but  they 
seem  to  testify  to  a  tradition  that  the  matter  was 
regarded  as  being  of  public  concern  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,  and  there  is  evidence  that  the  same  was 
the  case  in  other  Churches. 

97.  Archaology. —  Lastly,  among  these  minor 
topics,  we  may  mention  the  study  of  the  remains  of 
Christian  art  as  a  means  of  learning  what  was  the 
belief  of  the  Church.  The  artist  uses  a  language 
which  is,  it  is  true,  less  readily  intelligible  than  the 
language  of  literature ;  but  when  the  key  to  its 
meaning  is  once  secured,  it  is  vastly  more  impres- 
sive. Thus,  in  the  Real-Encyclopedie  of  F.  X.  Kraus, 
we  have  (i,  344)  a  representation  of  the  Prophet 
Habbakuk  caught  by  the  hair  of  the  head  as  he 
carries  a  basket  of  provisions.  It  is  impossible  to 
doubt  that  the  artist  who  drew  this  picture,  accepted 
the  account  of  this  incident  as  being  an  integral 
part  of  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Daniel  (Daniel  xiv. 
32 — 38) ;  and  in  this  way  we  have  proof  that  the 
canon  of  Scripture,  as  accepted  in  the  days  of  the 
artist,  was  wider  than  that  which  Protestants 
accept  at  the  present  day;  and  if  the  caricature 
where  "  Alexamenus  worships  his  God  "  by  kneeling 


134  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [97 

before  a  crucified  ass,  be  really  directed  against 
the  Christians,  it  gives  us  very  early  proof  of  the 
adoration  of  the  crucifix. 

98.  The  Fathers. — But  to  come  to  the  proper 
subject  of  this  chapter.  The  Christian  Fathers  are 
not  a  class  that  admit  of  precise  definition.  It 
would  be  against  common  usage  to  apply  the  name 
"  Father  "  to  any  modern  writer,  whatever  might  be 
his  other  claims  to  the  title,  and  especially  whatever 
might  be  the  style  in  which  he  treated  theological 
questions ;  a  certain  antiquity  is  requisite  before  an 
author  can  be  put  in  the  class  of  the  Fathers.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  cannot  reckon  all  early  Christian 
writers  as  being  among  the  Fathers ;  for  Constanti- 
nople produced  many  historians  who  were  Christians, 
yet  whom  no  one  would  reckon  among  the  Fathers. 
The  Episcopal  character  is  not  necessary,  as  has 
sometimes  been  thought,  for  no  one  will  dispute  the 
claim  of  St.  Jerome  to  the  title ;  nor  is  sanctity 
needed,  for  not  to  come  down  beyond  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  Tertullian  died  in  heresy, 
Origen  has  the  credit  of  the  same,  and  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  though  a  Catholic,  is  not  esteemed  as 
a  saint ;  yet  none  of  the  Fathers  have  more  authority 
than  these,  as  witnesses  to  the  doctrine  of  their  time. 
In  fact,  the  appellation,  "  Father,"  is  more  or  less 
arbitrary,  distinguishing  certain  writers  from  the 
inspired  Prophets  and  Apostles  to  whom  we  owe 
the  Sacred  Books  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  those 
called  "  Schoolmen "  on  the  other.  In  this  way, 
the  Fathers  are  the  great  bulk  of  Christian  writers 
on  theological  matters  who  are  later  than  the  first 


98]  THE  FATHERS.  435 

century  and  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  twelfth. 
But  no  strict  chronological  limit  is  possible :  for,  as 
already  remarked  (n.  6),  St.  Anselm,  the  first  of  the 
Schoolmen,  is  older  than  St.  Bernard,  the  last  of 
the  Fathers.  Understanding  the  term  "  Fathers  " 
in  this  way,  it  is  plain  that  their  authority  is  of 
great  weight  as  witnesses  of  the  Christian  Tradition. 
Putting  aside  for  the  moment  the  superintendence 
of  Divine  Providence,  which  preserves  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church  in  its  purity,  the  Fathers,  especially 
the  earlier  among  them,  are  good  witnesses  to  the 
primitive  revelation,  inasmuch  as  they  are  near  the 
time  when  it  was  given,  so  that  there  had  been  less 
opportunity  for  error  to  creep  in.  Also,  many  of 
them  were  distinguished  for  their  deep  and  varied 
learning,  their  ability  and  their  sanctity,  which  adds 
weight  to  their  authority  as  witnesses  to  Divine 
truth.  But  perhaps  the  most  important  considera- 
tion is  that  they  often  gave  their  testimony  before 
any  question  was  raised,  and  as  it  were  uncon- 
sciously. The  strong  expressions  used  by  them  will 
disclose  the  view  that  they  had  imbibed  from  their 
teachers,  in  a  manner  that  is  perfectly  satisfactory, 
even  when  they  use  expressions  which  at  a  later 
date,  when  controversy  was  raging,  might  have 
seemed  inaccurate. 

In  all  cases  where  we  have  the  unanimous  con- 
sentient voice  of  the  Fathers,  testifying  to  the 
tradition  that  they  had  received,  there  will  be  no 
difficulty  in  admitting  that  their  evidence  proves 
what  was  the  belief  of  the  Church  in  their  time. 
Whoever  does  not  accept  this  witness  is  a  follower 


136  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [98 

of  profane  novelties  of  words,  coming  under  the 
condemnation  of  St.  Paul,  (i  Timothy  vi.  20.) 

It  is  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  this  special  autho- 
rity which  attaches  to  the  Fathers  as  witnesses,  does 
not  cover  every  sentiment  that  is  found  in  their 
writings ;  especially,  in  their  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture, they  sometimes  testify  to  the  Tradition  of  the 
Church  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  particular  passage, 
but  sometimes  also  they  give  the  conclusion  that 
they  personally  have  come  to,  using  such  materials 
for  forming  a  judgment  as  were  available  in  their 
time.  In  these  cases  they  act  as  critics,  not  as 
witnesses. 

99.  Tests  of  Unanimity. — It  will  seldom,  perhaps 
never,  happen  that  all  the  Fathers  speak  upon  a 
particular  question,  and  it  would  be  vain,  therefore, 
to  rest  upon  the  authority  of  their  unanimous  voice, 
as  explained  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  But  even 
when  we  are  left  without  direct  evidence  of  their 
unanimity  on  any  question,  we  often  can  prove 
indirectly  what  their  view  was.  For  the  circum- 
stances may  be  such  that  the  voice  of  a  few 
expresses  with  certainty  the  mind  of  all.  This 
will  be  understood  when  we  call  to  mind  the  horror 
which  error  regarding  the  faith  excited  in  early 
times.  St.  John  the  Evangelist  won  the  name  of 
the  Apostle  of  Love.  In  his  second  Epistle  (verse  5), 
his  exhortation  was  "  that  we  love  one  another." 
Yet  with  all  this  gentleness,  he  expresses  his  horror 
of  novel  doctrines,  when  a  few  verses  after  (verse  10) 
he  says,  "If  any  man  come  to  you  and  bring  not 
this  doctrine  " — the  doctrine  which  he  had  taught — 


99}  TESTS  OP  UNANIMITY.  137 

"receive  him  not  into  the  house,  nor  say  to  him, 
God  speed  you."  The  same  loving  spirit  is  also 
exemplified  in  the  anecdote  of  St.  John,  preserved  by 
St.  Jerome  in  his  Commentary  on  St.  Paul  to  the 
Galatians  (vi.  10),  where  he  tells  us  that  the  holy 
Apostle  in  his  old  age  wearied  his  disciples  by 
incessantly  repeating :  "  My  children,  love  one 
another "  (P.L.  26,  433) ;  but  the  hatred  of  error 
comes  out  in  another  anecdote  told  us  concerning 
the  same  St.  John  by  St.  Irenaeus  (Contra  Hareses, 
3,  4;  P.G.  7,  853)  and  by  Eusebius  (Hist.  Eccles. 
3,  28  and  4,  14;  P.G.  20,  276  and  337)  that  he 
feared  to  remain  under  the  same  roof  with  Cerinthus 
the  heretic.  As  long  as  this  spirit  prevailed,  or  was 
held  worthy  of  admiration,  we  may  be  assured  that 
no  group  of  writers  could  teach  a  novelty  without 
rousing  those  who  heard  them  to  protest. 

100.  Single  Witnesses. — In  some  instances  the 
testimony  of  a  single  ancient  writer  is  conclusive  as 
to  the  belief  of  the  Church  in  his  time,  at  any  rate 
upon  some  special  subject.  Thus,  certain  letters 
written  by  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  were  received  by 
the  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon  as  the 
"  rule  of  the  faith :  "  their  statement  of  the  true 
tradition  upon  the  Incarnation  can  be  trusted.  (See 
the  authorities  collected  in  Fessler,  Institutiones 
Patrologice,  2,  550  n.)  In  the  case  of  St.  Gregory 
of  Nazianzum,  sometime  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, we  may  go  further,  for  Rufinus  expresses  the 
general  judgment  of  theologians  when  he  says  that 
whoever  fails  to  follow  the  doctrine  of  St.  Gregory, 
without  limitation  of  subject,  must  be  regarded  as 


138  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  fioo 

a  heretic.  (See  the  authorities  in  Fessler,  Instit. 
Patrol.  it  582.)  But  perhaps  the  most  famous 
instance  of  this  sort  is  the  case  01  St.  Hilary  of 
Poitou,  who  receives  a  special  encomium  from 
St.  Jerome  himself.  This  Saint  wrote  a  long  letter 
to  his  friend  St.  Laeta,  giving  her  various  practical 
directions  as  to  the  education  of  her  daughter, 
Paula,  and  among  other  things  he  prescribes  a 
course  of  reading;  and  he  says  that  she  will  find 
nothing  to  lead  her  wrong  in  the  Letters  of  Atha- 
nasius  or  in  the  works  of  Hilary.  (St.  Hieron.  Epist. 
107,  n.  12  ;  P.L.  22,  877.) 

These  cases,  however,  are  exceptional.  Generally 
speaking  we  must  expect  to  find  some  passages  in 
the  works  even  of  the  greatest  Fathers  which  looked 
at  by  themselves,  seem  to  convey  a  sense  opposed  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church ;  among  human  writers, 
absolute  inerrancy  belongs  only  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  when  speaking  ex  cathedra,  as  will  be 
explained  in  its  place.  When,  then,  we  seem  to 
find  in  an  author  of  repute  a  passage  which  seems 
inconsistent  with  what  is  known  from  other  sources 
to  be  the  truth,  we  must  first  make  sure  that  we 
have  not  been  misled  by  a  false  text ;  a  subject  on 
which  we  still  have  need  to  keep  in  mind  the 
warning  given  by  St.  Jerome  to  Laeta  in  the  place 
just  quoted.  Errors  of  copyists  are  for  this  purpose 
as  injurious  as  wilful  forgeries.  Next,  we  must 
ascertain  whether  we  really  grasp  the  author's  drift, 
and  especially  we  must  not  hastily  assume  that  the 
terms  as  used  by  him  have  the  same  meaning  as 
when  used  by  other  writers.  Language  is  an  imper- 


4oo]  SINGLE  WITNESSES.  139 

feet  instrument  for  conveying  thought,  and  it  is 
seldom  that  any  writer  distinctly  expresses  the 
whole  of  what  he  means :  it  is  enough  if  he  makes 
sure  that  he  will  not  be  misunderstood  by  those  for 
whose  immediate  benefit  he  is  writing;  he  cannot 
hope  to  preclude  all  risk  of  error  on  the  part  of 
readers  for  all  time.  In  short,  we  must  make  sure 
that  we  understand  the  Status  qutzstionis  as  it  was  in 
the  mind  of  the  author. 

When  the  author's  meaning  is  thoroughly 
grasped,  it  may  turn  out  that  he  used  language 
which  was  harmless  at  the  time,  but  which  after- 
wards became  associated  with  error,  either  by 
positive  assertion,  or  by  omission  of  some  word 
which  became  the  badge  of  orthodoxy.  But  it  may 
also  be  seen  to  be  necessary  to  abandon  the  defence 
of  the  passage  and  to  acknowledge  that  the  writer's 
mind  was  not  in  accord  with  the  truth :  as  may 
happen  blamelessly  on  points  that  have  not  yet 
been  denned  by  the  Church.  When  it  is  necessary 
thus  to  recede  from  the  doctrine  taught  by  some 
venerable  Father,  it  should  be  done  with  all  expres- 
sions of  respect.  St.  Augustine  was  unable  to  follow 
the  doctrine  of  St.  Cyprian,  who  denied  the  validity 
of  baptism  administered  by  heretics,  and  he  speaks 
as  follows  (St.  Aug.  De  Baptismo,  6,  2 ;  P.L.  43, 
199) :  "  With  all  reverence '  and  honour  for  the 
gentle  Bishop  and  glorious  Martyr  Cyprian,  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  on  the  subject  of  heretical 
Baptism  he  thought  otherwise  than  as  the  truth 
afterwards  appeared." 

Many  illustrations  of  what  we  have  been  saying 


I4o  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [100 

will  be  found  in  Fessler,  when  he  enumerates  the 
doctrines  peculiar  to  each  of  the  Fathers  whose  life 
and  works  he  treats.  St.  Justin  Martyr  affords  a 
good  example,  (i,  220.) 

101.  St.  Augustine. — It  will  be  observed  that  in 
cases  like  those  of  St.  Cyril,  St.  Gregory,  and 
St.  Hilary,  we  regard  them  as  safe  guides  because 
their  writings  have  been  examined  and  have  been 
found  to  be  free  from  error.  They  are  not  judges 
whose  decision  is  authoritative  and  final,  but  they 
are  witnesses  who  testify  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  in  their  time,  and  their  witness  has  been 
examined  and  found  to  be  truthful.  This  principle 
was  forgotten  by  some  persons  whose  admiration 
for  one  of  the  greatest  doctors  of  the  Church  led 
them  to  raise  him  from  the  witness-box  to  the 
bench,  with  the  result  that  something  of  a  slur  has 
been  cast  upon  his  name. 

Among  the  writers  whom  God  has  raised  up  to 
enlighten  His  Church  and  defend  her  doctrine,  a 
place  among  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first  place, 
must  be  given  to  St.  Augustine,  who  for  keenness 
of  intellect,  enormous  and  varied  learning,  quick- 
ness of  insight,  and  zeal  and  success  in  combating 
heresies  the  most  diverse,  has  scarcely  an  equal 
among  the  Fathers.  The  writings  of  St.  Augus- 
tine were  the  principal  store-house  whence  the 
Scholastics  drew  that  matter  which  they  put 
into  shape  and  arranged,  to  form  the  theology  of 
the  Church.  Testimonies  concerning  him  will  be 
found  collected  in  Fessler.  (2,  433.)  Especially, 
St.  Augustine's  authority  stands  high  on  all  questions 


ioi]  ST.  AUGUSTINE.  141 

connected  with  Grace,  and  we  shall  find  that  there 
are  portions  of  the  defined  doctrine  of  the  Church 
which  are  taken  textually  from  his  writings;  and 
Suarez  holds  that  the  note  of  "  rashness "  would 
attach  to  any  attempt  of  a  private  theologian  to 
contradict  any  part  of  the  teaching  of  St.  Augustine 
on  Grace.  (Prolegom.  6,  in  Tract,  de  Gratia,  c.  6, 

n.  17.) 

But  there  are  certain  other  subjects  of  which  the 
same  could  not  be  said,  and  phrases  may  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  the  great  African  Doctor,  especially 
on  the  subject  of  free-will,  which  taken  simply  by 
themselves,  without  reference  to  the  meaning  which 
they  bear  in  their  proper  place,  are  indefensible. 
In  the  sixteenth  century,  Baius  of  Louvain  advo- 
cated certain  views  on  this  subject,  which  he 
professed  to  draw  from  St.  Augustine,  and  these 
views  were  condemned  by  Pope  St.  Pius  V.  in  1567. 
(Denzinger,  Enchir.  nn.  881 — 959.)  Nevertheless, 
the  teaching  of  Baius  was  supported  by  Jansenius, 
and  in  his  hands  became  the  foundation  of  the 
Jansenist  heresy.  This  writer  and  his  followers 
maintained  that  no  account  need  be  taken  of  Ponti- 
fical condemnations  in  face  of  the  clear  teaching 
of  St.  Augustine,  which  he  termed  irrefragable ; 
and  Pope  Alexander  VIII.,  in  1690,  deemed  it 
necessary  to  clear  the  ground  by  condemning  the 
following  proposition  (Denz.  n.  1187) :  "  When  a 
doctrine  is  found  to  be  solidly  based  on  Augustine, 
it  may  be  held  and  taught,  without  regard  to  any 
Pontifical  Bull."  A  discussion  of  the  whole  matter 
will  be  found  in  Viva.  (Theses  Damnata,  part  3, 


i4a  MONUMENTS  OF  TRADITION.  [101 

prop.  30,  Alex.  VIII.)  The  condemnation  was 
based  upon  the  principle  that  no  appeal  is  admis- 
sible from  the  living  Church  of  the  present  day  to 
the  Church  of  past  ages.  The  meaning  of  the 
present  pronouncement  is  beyond  doubt,  whereas 
the  ancient  writer  is  not  here,  to  explain  what  he 
meant ;  besides  which,  the  present  pronouncement 
undoubtedly  represents  the  mind  of  the  whole 
Church,  whereas  the  ancient  witness  may  have  been 
mistaken  in  the  testimony  that  he  bears.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  condemnations  in  question 
were  in  form  the  utterances  of  the  Popes  alone  ;  but 
they  were  accepted  by  the  Bishops  of  the  Church, 
with  moral  unanimity,  and  therefore  certainly 
expressed  the  mind  of  the  Church,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  doubt  which  existed  at  that  time  as  to 
the  infallibility  of  the  Pope. 

102."  Doctors. — It  may  be  convenient  to  mention 
some  of  the  various  senses  attaching  to  the  word 
Doctor.  It  signifies  primarily  a  Teacher,  especially 
one  who  has  received  public  license  to  teach  from 
some  University;  thus  we  have  Doctors  of  Medi- 
cine, of  Law,  and  of  Theology.  Originally  no  one 
was  allowed  to  teach  publicly  until  he  had  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor,  and  even  now  it  is  obligatory 
on  the  holders  of  certain  positions  in  the  Church  to 
qualify  themselves  by  obtaining  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Theology  or  of  Canon  Law ;  but  for  the  moit 
part,  the  degree  no  longer  confers  any  special  privi- 
leges. Some  eminent  teachers  of  the  thirteenth 
and  following  centuries  received  complimentary 
epithets  which  have  remained  in  use,  and  become 


io>]  DOCTORS.  143 

a  kind  of  proper  name,  although  the  special  appro- 
priateness is  often  obscure.  Some  seventy  cases  of 
this  kind  will  be  found  enumerated  in  the  Freiburg 
Kirchen  Lexicon  of  Wetzer  and  Welte,  s.v.  "Doctor," 
the  best  known  being  the  name  of  Angelic  Doctor, 
applied  to  St.  Thomas  Aquinas.  More  loosely,  the 
name  of  Doctor  has  been  applied  to  all  teachers, 
without  reference  to  academical  qualification ;  but 
in  a  special  sense  it  is  given  to  certain  Servants  of 
God  who  have  joined  eminent  learning  to  remark- 
able sanctity,  and  on  whose  feasts  the  Church  has 
sanctioned  the  use  of  a  special  Mass  and  Office. 
(See  Benedict  XIV.  De  Canonizatione,  lib.  2,  part  2, 
c.  II,  n.  13.)  Four  such  have  long  been  recognized 
belonging  to  the  Eastern  Church,  SS.  Athanasius, 
Basil,  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  and  Chrysostom ; 
and  as  many  in  the  West,  SS.  Ambrose,  Augustine, 
Jerome,  and  Gregory  the  Great.  It  is  possible  that 
the  selection  of  this  number  was  primarily  the  work 
of  Christian  artists,  but  it  has  been  long  sanctioned 
by  the  Church.  The  first  increase  in  the  number 
occurred  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  title 
was  formally  conferred  by  St.  Pius  V.  upon  the 
Dominican  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  by  Sixtus  V. 
upon  the  Franciscan  St.  Bonaventure :  each  Pope 
promoting  his  Religious  brother. 

Of  late  years,  the  Mass  and  Office  of  a  Doctor 
has  been  granted  in  the  case  of  a  large  number  of 
saints.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  grant  does  not 
imply  any  special  approbation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
writer  so  honoured ;  it  merely  testifies  in  general 
to  the  greatness  of  his  learning,  conjoined  with 


144  MONUMENTS  OP  TRADITION.  [ioa 

sanctity.  In  the  case  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  a 
decree  was  issued  by  the  Penitentiaria  in  1787, 
declaring  that  his  moral  doctrine  might  always  be 
followed  with  safety ;  but  this  is  not  the  same  thing 
as  declaring  that  it  is  true :  the  title  of  Doctor  was 
not  conferred  upon  him  till  1871. 

103.  Bishops  and  People. — The  promise  of  Divine 
assistance  in  the  -work  of  teaching,  which  is  the 
ground  of  our  belief  that  the  Church  will  not  fail, 
was  made  primarily  to  the  Apostles  (St.  Matt, 
xxviii.  20)  and  through  them  to  their  successors, 
the  Bishops  of  the  Church,  under  the  headship  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff:  as  will  be  explained  in  the 
Treatise  on  the  Church.  These  constitute  the 
Teaching  Church  (n.  203) :  all  other  Christians  are 
the  Taught.  There  is  no  direct  Divine  guarantee 
that  the  Taught  shall  be  preserved  in  the  truth :  but 
indirectly  we  are  assured  that,  as  a  body,  they  will 
never  fall  into  error,  for  this  could  happen  only 
through  some  failure  on  the  part  of  the  Teachers, 
such  as  is  inconsistent  with  the  promise  of  help  that 
they  have  received.  What  is  here  said  applies  not 
only  to  the  mere  multitude  of  the  faithful,  but  also 
to  priests  and  other  men  of  theological  learning  who 
teach  in  the  public  schools  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Episcopacy  and  of  the  Holy  See.  It  is  a 
remark  of  Melchior  Canus  (De  Locis  Theologicis,  8,  i) 
that  there  has  always  been  a  close  connection 
between  contempt  for  the  Schools  of  the  Church 
and  the  bane  of  heresy ;  and  the  general  consent  of 
the  faithful  people  has  in  all  ages  been  regarded  as 
a  test  of  truth  or  falsehood. 


104]  BISHOPS  AND  PEOPLE.  145 

104.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
considered  the  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
doctrine  held  by  the  Church  in  former  times.  These 
are,  besides  Scripture,  formal  definitions,  the  Liturgy, 
History,  including  especially  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs 
and  the  works  of  the  Fathers.  The  meaning  of  this 
word  is  explained,  and  the  reasons  are  explained 
why  the  consent  of  many  of  the  Fathers,  or  even  in 
certain  circumstances  the  doctrine  taught  by  one 
alone,  guides  to  a  knowledge  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
whole  Church.  The  peculiar  case  of  St.  Augustine 
is  explained,  as  is  the  force  of  the  title  "  Doctor  of 
the  Church,"  and  finally  it  is  pointed  out  that  the 
Episcopate  is  the  primary  depositary  of  the  tradition 
of  the  Church,  all  others  being  kept  in  the  truth  in 
virtue  of  their  adherence  to  the  body  of  Bishops. 


VOL.1. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SCRIPTURE   AND  TRADITION. 

105.  Subject  of  Chapter. — If  we  put  in  this 

the  whole  of  the  doctrine  as  to  the  relation  of 
Scripture  and  Tradition,  it  would  fill  a  long  chapter: 
but  much  of  the  subject  has  been  anticipated  in 
earlier  chapters  of  the  present  Treatise,  and  more 
will  be  given  in  the  next  Treatise  on  Holy  Scripture. 
In  that  Treatise  we  shall  see  the  special  and  alto- 
gether unique  dignity  that  attaches  to  the  Sacred 
Books,  distinguishing  them  from  all  other  existing 
books,  in  that  they  came  from  no  human  author 
and  are  free  from  the  slightest  taint  of  error.  We 
shall  do  no  more  in  this  place  than  vindicate  some 
points  in  which  the  divinely  conserved  Tradition  of 
the  Church  has  superiority  over  the  written  Word 
of  God. 

1 06.  Tradition  prior  in  Time  and  Thought. — We 
have   already   (nn.   79 — 81)   shown   that    Christian 
Tradition   existed    before  the   Christian    Scriptures 
were  written.     This  is  obvious,  and  is  admitted  on 
all  hands.     The  method  of  teaching  by  the  living 
voice  of  authoritative  witnesses  was  in  use  on  the 
first    feast    of    Pentecost,   when   the    Church   was 
instituted ;  and  there  is  no  indication  forthcoming 


106]    TRADITION  PRIOR  IN  TIME  AND  THOUGHT.      147 

that  the  method  underwent  any  subsequent  change. 
Tradition  is  undeniably  prior  in  time  to  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures. 

Not  only  did  the  Tradition  of  the  Church  exist 
before  the  New  Testament  was  written,  but  we 
cannot  think  of  the  Scriptures  as  having  authority 
in  determining  the  belief  of  Christians,  without  first 
thinking  of  the  Christian  Tradition.  The  reason 
why  we  look  upon  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  as 
having  peculiar  authority,  is  that  such  is  the  belief 
of  the  Christian  Church :  in  other  words,  such  is 
the  teaching  of  Tradition.  No  other  reason  can  be 
alleged  ;  for  no  book  can  prove  its  own  authorship 
with  certainty,  any  more  than  a  man's  asseverations 
of  his  own  truthfulness  add  a  scrap  to  our  reasons 
for  believing  his  story.  If  what  we  know  of  him 
from  other  sources  does  not  incline  us  to  believe 
him  when  he  tells  his  story,  neither  does  it  incline 
us  to  believe  him  when  he  says  that  his  story  is  true. 
But,  besides  this,  no  book  of  the  New  Testament 
makes  claim  to  the  possession  of  any  special, 
character,  still  less  does  it  make  such  a  claim  on 
behalf  of  the  whole  collection  :  there  is  no  clear 
indication  that  one  of  the  sacred  writers  conceived 
himself  to  be  contributing  to  a  collection  which 
should  possess  a  unique  character.  No  doubt,  every 
writer  of  history  makes  an  implicit  claim  to  be 
considered  credible ;  but  this  is  not  enough  to 
entitle  a  book  to  be  looked  upon  as  forming  part  of 
the  Scriptures,  for  many  credible  histories  have 
been  written  which  are  not  regarded  as  Scripture ; 
and  what  we  are  insisting  upon  is  the  absence  of 


148  SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION.  [106 

any  claim  to  the  possession  of  the  peculiar  character 
which  we  ascribe  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

107.  Wider  in  Scope. — Further,  there  is  matter 
contained  in  the  Tradition  of  the  Church  which  is 
not  contained  in  Scripture,  while  on  the  other  hand 
there  is  nothing  in  Scripture  which  is  not  in  Tradi- 
tion. This  last  is  clear  because  Tradition  embraces 
Scripture  and  looks  upon  Scripture  as  the  chiefest 
instrument  by  which  Tradition  is  handed  down. 
On  the  other  hand,  Tradition  contains  some  matters 
which  are  not  in  Scripture.  First  and  principally, 
Tradition  teaches  us  the  authoritative  character 
attaching  to  the  Scripture,  as  we  saw  at  length  in 
the  last  paragraph.  But  besides  this,  there  are 
many  points  which  are  accepted  by  the  great  bulk 
of  Protestants  as  part  of  the  Christian  religion  in 
spite  of  the  weight  of  purely  Scriptural  argument 
seeming  decidedly  opposed  to  them.  In  these  cases, 
the  Catholic  theologian,  under  the  guidance  of 
Tradition,  and  knowing  the  truth,  is  able  to  show 
that  the  words  of  Scripture  are  not  conclusive;  at 
the  same  time  that  the  Scriptural  argument  is  too 
strong  to  be  resisted  by  those  who  have  no  other 
guide.  We  will  point  out  some  of  these  cases. 

I.  Infant  Baptism. — The  great  bulk  of  Protestant 
sects  employ  infant  Baptism,  yet  there  is  no  trace 
in  Scripture  of  Christian  Baptism  being  administered 
to  any  one  who  was  not  capable  of  asking  for  it, 
while  there  are  many  places  in  which  certain  dispo- 
sitions— faith  or  repentance,  or  both — are  mentioned 
as  necessary  conditions.  The  practice  of  infant 


107]  INFANT  BAPTISM]  149 

Baptism  therefore  cannot  be  defended  on  Scriptural 
grounds.  (See  St.  Mark  xvi.  16 ;  Acts  ii.  38,  41,  viii. 
12,  37.)  Dr.  Browne,  in  his  Exposition  of  the  27th 
of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  (pp.  671 — 676),  after 
some  irrelevant  remarks  on  Jewish  ceremonies, 
urges  the  hardship  of  excluding  infants  from  the 
benefits  promised  to  the  baptized,  an  unsafe  argu- 
ment in  dealing  with  the  positive  institution  of  God, 
and  one  which  would  go  to  prove  that  water  might 
be  dispensed  with  in  Baptism  if  it  were  unattain- 
able :  a  conclusion  which  Dr.  Browne  would  not 
admit.  He  then  quotes  some  passages  showing 
that  the  children  of  Christian  parents  were  in  an 
advantageous  position,  which  may  refer  merely  to 
the  benefit  of  education ;  and  lastly  he  points  out 
that  the  Apostles  baptized  whole  households  (Acts 
xvi.  15,  33 ;  i  Cor.  i.  16),  and  assumes  that  there 
were  infants  among  the  members  of  these  house- 
holds, and  that  these  infants  were  baptized ;  whereas 
the  phrase  "  the  household  was  baptized  "  is  abun- 
dantly satisfied  if  all  the  capable  members  received 
that  Sacrament.  This  writer  is  then  glad  to  support 
his  doctrine  from  the  Fathers,  that  is  to  say,  to 
admit  the  force  of  Tradition. 

II.  Indissolubility  of  Marriage. — Most  Protestants, 
at  least  until  recent  times,  maintained  the  Catholic 
doctrine  of  the  indissolubility  of  consummated 
marriage  of  Christians.  Yet  the  student  of  "the 
Bible  and  the  Bible  only  "  could  hardly  fail  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  an  exception, 
expressly  authorized  by  Christ  (St.  Matt.  v.  32), 
which  full  statement  of  the  doctrine  must  stand, 


I5o  SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION.  [107 

although  the  exception  is  not  mentioned  by  St.  Mark 
(x.  n)  nor  by  St.  Luke  (xvi.  18).  The  full  explanation 
of  this  difficult  matter   must   be   reserved   for  our 
Treatise  on   the    Sacrament   of    Matrimony.     The 
embarrassment  of  Protestant  divines  will  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  note  in  the  Speaker's  Commentary. 
III.    Feet   Washing. — If  the  earlier  part  of  the 
thirteenth   chapter   of    St.  John's   Gospel   be   read 
(vv.  i — 7),  we  see  that  our  Lord  on  the  last  night 
of  His  mortal  life,  washed  the  feet  of  His  disciples, 
and  taught  them  that  unless  He  washed  them  they 
should  have  no  part  with  Him.     Further,  that  they 
ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet,  and  if  they  did 
so,  they  should  be  blessed.     We  seem  here  to  have 
the    formal    institution    of   an    obligatory   rite,   to 
the  due  observance  of  which  a  special  blessing  is 
attached,  while  to  neglect  it  is  spiritually  disastrous. 
And  we  learn  also  (i  Timothy  v.  10)  that  to  use  the 
rite  was  one  of  the  marks  of  an  upright  Christian. 
Nevertheless,  with  insignificant  exceptions,  the  rite 
has  never  been   in   use;    and  the   practice  of  the 
Church  assures  us  that  "  to  wash  the  saints'  feet " 
is  a  phrase  for  readiness  to  embrace  opportunities 
of   doing   acts   of    kindness,   even   when   they  are 
humiliating;    but   one   who   knew   nothing  of   the 
matter  beyond  what  the  Scripture  teaches,  would 
have  no  ground  for  so  understanding  the  passages. 

IV.  Eating  Blood. — The  Israelites  were  forbidden 
to  eat  the  blood  of  any  creature  whatsoever.  (Levit. 
vii.  26,  and  many  other  places.)  The  motive  of 
this  law  was  perhaps  partly  sanitary,  but  it  also,  no 
doubt,  had  reference  to  the  Divine  decree  by  which 


107)  EATING  BLOOD.  151 

the  redemption  of  mankind  was  destined  to  be 
purchased  by  the  shedding  of  the  Precious  Blood 
on  Calvary.  This  law  is  still  observed  by  the  Jews. 
In  the  earliest  days  of  the  Church,  probably  within 
twenty  years  of  the  Death  of  Christ,  a  question 
arose,  how  far  Gentile  converts  were  bound  to 
observe  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  the  Apostles  and 
others  gathered  together  at  Jerusalem  to  discuss  the 
point.  The  proceedings  are  narrated  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  result 
was  that  the  Council  sent  a  circular  letter  addressed 
in  form  to  the  Gentile  converts  of  Antioch,  Syria, 
and  Cilicia,  but  which  is  referred  to  in  Acts  xxi.  25, 
as  being  applicable  to  all  Gentiles ;  and  this  letter 
insists  on  the  duty  of  abstaining  from  blood. 
Nothing  but  the  Tradition  of  the  Church  assures 
us  that  this  prohibition  has  ceased  to  be  binding. 

V.  Oaths. — In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  we 
have  a  distinct  precept  of  Christ  not  to  swear  at 
all  (St.  Matt.  v.  34) ;  and  St.  James  would  have 
Christians  "above  all  things,  swear  not."  (St.  James 
v.  12.)  No  words  can  be  plainer,  and  the  context 
limits  them  only  so  far  as  to  indicate  by  the 
examples  adduced,  that  the  prohibition  is  confined 
to  oaths  properly  so  called.  It  is  to  no  purpose 
therefore  that  Dr.  Browne,  defending  the  ordinary 
practice  of  men  against  certain  fanatical  sectaries, 
in  his  comment  on  the  last  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  adduces  certain  forms  of  speech  which  are 
employed  occasionally  by  St.  Paul  (Romans  ix.  I ; 
i  Cor.  xv.  31,  &c.)  as  proof  that  the  Apostle  con- 
sidered it  lawful  to  take  an  oath ;  these  forms  are 


152  SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION,  [107 

something  different  from  oaths.  Nor  does  it  avail 
him  more  to  quote  the  example  of  our  Lord,  Who 
suffered  Himself  to  be  adjured  (St.  Matt.  xxvi.  63), 
for  this  was  the  act  of  the  High  Priest,  not  of 
Christ ;  but  to  take  an  oath  is  the  act  of  the  witness, 
not  of  the  judge:  and  by  permitting  the  High  Priest 
to  act  in  this  way,  He  no  more  sanctioned  his  action 
than  He  sanctioned  His  own  condemnation,  which 
He  suffered  this  same  High  Priest  to  pronounce. 

VI.  No  point  of  the  popular  religion  of  Protes- 
tants is  more  prominent  than  the  strictness  with 
which  they  observe  the  weekly  rest  on  Sunday,  and 
the  duty  is  constantly  rested  upon  that  command- 
ment of  the  Decalogue  which  forbids  work  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  belief  is  wide-spread  among  ignorant 
Protestants  that  the  Sunday  is  the  Sabbath,  whereas 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  Sunday  is  observed 
as  the  day  of  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord,  which 
took  place  on  the  day  following  the  Sabbath. 
(St.  Luke  xxiii.  56.)  The  Jews  have  preserved  the 
true  reckoning,  and  they  rest  on  the  Saturday. 
Such  Protestants  as  know  better  than  to  fall  into 
this  confusion,  feel  the  need  jof  discovering  a 
Scriptural  basis  for  their  practice  of  observing 
Sunday;  but  they  find  nothing  better  than  some 
indications  that  Christians  were  accustomed  to  meet 
for  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  (Acts  xx.  7; 
i  Cor.  xvi.  2),  but  there  is  nothing  in  these  passages 
to  impose  a  perpetual  obligation,  or  to  show  that 
this  observance  is  of  Divine  institution.  Again  we 
are  driven  to  Tradition  and  the  practice  of  the 
Church,  to  justify  the  existing  usage. 


107]  WIDER  SCOPE.  153 

We  may  conclude  this  discussion  by  citing  two 
passages  from  the  Fathers,  in  which  our  principle 
is  stated  with  great  plainness.  St.  Epiphanius,  who 
wrote  about  the  year  370,  combats  certain  heretics 
with  arguments  derived  from  Scripture;  and  then 
goes  on  (Adv.  Hareses,  61,  6;  P.G.  41,  1048) :  "We 
must  also  call  in  the  aid  of  Tradition^  for  it  is 
impossible  to  find  everything  in  Scripture ;  for  the 
holy  Apostles  delivered  to  us  some  things  in  writing, 
and  other  things  by  Tradition."  To  the  same  effect 
we  read  in  St.  Basil,  writing  about  the  same  time, 
the  clear  statement  that  the  Church  had  Traditions 
on  doctrinal  questions,  adding  to  what  is  contained 
in  the  Scripture.  Many  passages  to  this  effect  are 
found  in  the  Saint's  work  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  where 
he  discusses  the  proper  way  of  speaking  of  the 
Three  Divine  Persons.  Thus  (n.  66;  P.G.  32,  188): 
"Among  the  dogmas  that  are  maintained  in  the 
Church,  we  find  some  in  the  doctrinal  writings, 
others  come  to  us  handed  down  from  the  Apostles ; 
both  of  which  have  the  same  religious  force."  And 
again  (n.  71,  p.  200),  he  is  advocating  the  use  of  a 
certain  form  of  speech,  and  answers  the  argument 
that  this  form  is  not  found  in  Scripture,  as  follows : 
"  If  nothing  else  is  accepted  which  is  not  Scriptural, 
then  let  not  this  be  accepted ;  but  if  most  of  our 
doctrines  are  accepted  among  us  without  writing, 
then  let  us  receive  this  along  with  the  multitude  of 
the  rest."  Patristic  passages  to  the  same  effect 
have  been  collected  in  abundance. 

108.  More  necessary. — It  follows  from  what  we 
have  already  said,  that  the  Church  could  dispense 


154  SCRIPTURE  AND  TRADITION.  (108 

with  Holy  Scripture,  but  cannot  dispense  with 
Tradition.  Were  it  possible  to  imagine  that  all 
copies  of  the  Scripture  should  perish,  without 
possibility  of  restoration,  still  the  voices  of  living 
men  would  proclaim  what  is  the  Christian  teaching. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  copy  of  the  Bible  found  its 
way  to  some  community  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  Christian  Revelation,  there  would  be  nothing 
about  the  volume  by  which  it  could  be  distinguished 
from  other  books  teaching  a  sublime  morality ;  the 
community  would  see  no  reason  to  take  this  Bible, 
and  this  Bible  alone,  as  their  religion.  This  superior 
necessity  of  Tradition  plainly  appears  if  we  consider 
the  way  in  which  Protestants  in  fact  learn  their 
religion.  No  one  actually  learns  it  from  the  Bible 
and  the  Bible  alone.  All  are  taught  by  way  of 
authority,  however  freely  they  may  be  referred  to 
the  Bible  to  verify  what  they  are  taught;  if  they 
fail  to  be  convinced  by  the  Scripture  proofs,  on 
such  a  matter  as  infant  Baptism,  for  example,  or 
the  observation  of  Sunday,  they  will  be  told  that 
wiser  men  than  they  have  considered  the  matter 
and  been  convinced,  and  they  will  not  be  told  that 
others  have  also  considered  the  Scriptural  argument 
and  have  found  it  insufficient ;  or  more  probably 
they  will  be  led  to  stifle  their  own  doubts  out  of 
respect  to  the  usage  of  those  among  whom  they 
have  been  brought  up,  and  who  have  their  con- 
fidence ;  they  in  fact  believe  Tradition,  with  which 
they  could  not  dispense,  the  Scripture  being  a  most 
valuable  help,  but  not  indispensable.  The  high 
position  that  Catholic  doctrine  assigns  to  Holy 


io8]  MORE  NECESSARY.  155 

Writ  will  be  seen  in  the  next  Treatise,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  we  yield  to  no  Christians  in  our  esteem ; 
but  we  esteem  it  on  account  of  what  we  learn  con- 
cerning it  from  Tradition. 

109.  Recapitulation. — This  chapter  has  taught  us 
that  Tradition  is  prior  in  time  to  Scripture,  and 
prior  in  thought ;  it  is  of  wider  scope,  as  is  shown 
by  several  examples,  and  it  is  more  necessary. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE. 

no.  Subject  of  Chapter. — It  has  been  pointed 
out  already  (n.  19)  that  private  revelations  by  God 
to  man  are  always  possible,  and  we  hold  that  in  fact 
they  are  given  occasionally,  even  at  the  present  day. 
In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  give  our  reasons  for 
believing  that  no  addition  has  been  made  to  the 
body  of  doctrine  which  constitutes  the  Christian 
Revelation  since  the  death  of  the  last  survivor  among 
the  Apostles,  and  further,  that  no  new  public  reve- 
lation is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  future.  Also  we 
shall  explain  the  sense  in  which  it  may  be  admitted 
that  continual  growth  is  going  on  in  our  knowledge 
of  Christian  doctrine,  and  in  doing  this  we  shall 
freely  assume  points  of  doctrine  which  we  have  not 
yet  established,  for  we  bring  them  forward  only  as 
illustrating  our  subject. 

in.  Heresies. — Almost  all  Catholic  writers  agree 
in  holding  that  the  Divine  scheme  for  undoing  the 
work  of  the  Fall  and  for  raising  mankind,  and 
enabling  them  to  attain  to  their  supernatural  last 
end  was  completed  by  the  Death  of  our  Redeemer 
and  by  the  foundation  of  the  Church.  But  we  read 
in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (xxiv.  24)  the  warning 


TII]  HERESIES.  157 

given  by  our  Lord  that  the  time  should  come  when 
there  would  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets ; 
and  a  solemn  warning  is  given  to  us  not  to  be 
misled.  Nor  has  the  event  failed  to  show  the  truth 
of  the  prophecy  and  the  necessity  of  the  warning, 
in  spite  of  which  many  have  been  led  astray  in 
every  age  of  the  Church.  Preachers  have  arisen  who 
have  taught  a  Gospel  besides  that  which  was  handed 
down  by  Tradition,  and  they  have  found  men  and 
women  ready  to  neglect  the  warning  given  by 
St.  Paul  to  the  Galatians  (i.  8),  and  to  listen  to 
them.  It  will  be  enough  to  mention  a  few  of  those 
who  have  sought  to  supplement  the  Gospel  that 
tells  of  the  Word  of  God  made  Flesh  for  the 
redemption  of  man,  by  a  new  pretended  Gospel  of 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  as  though  there  were  to  be  a  third 
dispensation  under  which  the -Third  Person  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  completed  the  work  which  was  begun 
under  the  Old  Testament  by  the  First  Person, 
and  was  carried  on  by  the  Second  Person  in  the 
New. 

Among  the  number  of  these  was  one  Montanus, 
who  taught  in  the  rude  districts  of  Phrygia,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century,  and  of  whom  we 
read  in  the  words  of  an  anonymous  author  quoted 
by  Eusebius  (H.E.  5,  17;  P.G.  20,  464),  that  he 
uttered  strange  sayings  beyond  the  Tradition  handed 
down  from  old  times.  Some  of  his  followers,  in- 
cluding two  women,  spoke  as  though  carried  away 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  full  of  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
Manes,  the  founder  of  that  Manichean  heresy  which 
has  been  so  deadly  a  foe  to  the  Church,  called 


158  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE.  (ill 

himself  the  Paraclete,  and  professed  to  know  all 
things  from  all  eternity.  (St.  Epiph.  Har.  66,  n.  19; 
P.G.  42,  57.)  The  year  250  may  be  assigned  as  his 
date ;  and,  to  pass  over  many  centuries,  the  pretended 
prophecies  of  the  Abbot  Joachim,  who  died  in  1202, 
remained  in  credit  for  many  years,  in  spite  of  the 
condemnation  by  the  Fourth  Council  of  Lateran  in 
1215  of  the  doctrine  on  the  Blessed  Trinity  taught 
by  their  author ;  and  new  revelations  were  among 
the  extravagances  of  the  Fraticelli  condemned  by 
the  Council  at  Vienne  in  1311. 

Among  the  sects  that  sprang  from  the  Refor- 
mation of  the  sixteenth  century,  similar  delusions 
have  been  plentiful;  it  may  suffice  to  mention 
Swedenborg,  whose  death  occurred  in  1772,  who 
claimed  to  have  direct  illumination  from  God,  not 
through  Angel  or  Spirit ;  Irving,  who  believed  that 
the  marvels  of  the  first  Pentecost  were  renewed 
about  the  year  1830  among  those  who  attended  his 
ministry ;  and  Smith,  the  American,  who  pretended 
that  the  Bible  of  the  Western  Continent  was  dis- 
covered to  him  in  1823,  and  who  was  murdered  in 
1844.  The  followers  of  this  last  are  numerous 
enough  and  devoted  enough %  to  be  a  trouble  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  but  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  bond  of  union  among  them  is 
not  social  and  economical  rather  than  any  living 
belief  in  the  revelation  which  their  prophet  professed 
to  bring.  It  is  deserving  of  notice  that  the  Catholic 
Church  has  been  little  troubled  by  ebullitions  of 
this  kind  in  recent  times. 

112.  The  Catholic  Doctrine. — In  opposition  to  all 


Iia]  THE  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE.  159 

these,  the  doctrine  of  Catholic  theology  is  that  the 
body  of  public  revealed  doctrine  has  received  no 
objective  increase  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles. 
It  is  true,  as  St.  Thomas  remarks,  (Summa  Theol. 
2.  2.  q.  I.  a.  7.  c.)  that  the  whole  of  the  Divine 
economy  of  salvation  is  in  some  sense  contained  in 
the  two  fundamental  articles  which  have  been 
revealed  from  the  beginning,  that  God  is,  and  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  seek  Him  :  the  explicit  belief 
in  which  truths  is  and  always  has  been  a  necessary 
condition  of  salvation,  according  to  the  doctrine  of 
St.  Paul.  (Hebrews  xi.  6.)  But  the  whole  body  of 
Christian  doctrine  could  never  have  been  discovered 
as  contained  in  this  primitive  and,  so  to  speak, 
elementary  revelation,  had  not  further  revelations 
been  vouchsafed ;  and  such  revelations  were  given 
from  time  to  time  under  the  patriarchal  dispen- 
sation, under  the  Mosaic  Law,  and  during  the  life 
of  Christ  and  His  Apostles  ;  also,  the  theologians 
of  the  Church  continually  discover,  and  will  continue 
to  discover,  more  and  more  of  the  fulness  of  mean- 
ing contained  in  these  revelations,  and  from  time 
to  time  the  Church  imprints  the  seal  of  her  infallible 
approval  upon  their  explicit  statements  of  what  was 
heretofore  known  implicitly  alone ;  but  we  maintain 
that  no  substantially  new  revelation  is  given  or  will 
be  given,  to  be  proposed  by  the  Church  for  the 
belief  of  the  faithful. 

The  proof  is  partly  negative.  There  is  no  hint 
in  the  New  Testament  that  any  such  new  revelation 
is  to  be  looked  for.  Whatever  prophecies  or  other 
indications  of  future  events  are  met  with,  refer  either 


160  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE.  [iia 

to  the  fortunes  of  the  Church  under  the  present  dis- 
pensation (i  Timothy  iv.  i),  or  more  especially  to  the 
circumstances  that  will  attend  the  Second  Coming 
of  our  Lord,  when  the  time  of  probation  is  over 
for  all  mankind  and  all  receive  the  eternal  reward 
of  their  works.  (St.  John  xii.  48.)  But  there  is  not 
a  word  that  can  be  represented  as  pointing  to  a 
time  when  the  Church  shall  be  replaced  by  another 
more  perfect  institution  having  the  same  object, 
and  when  means  of  grace  will  be  granted  to  men 
more  efficient  than  the  Christian  Sacraments.  In 
the  Old  Testament  there  are  expressions  which, 
taken  by  themselves,  might  seem  to  point  to  the 
perpetual  duration  of  that  institution  (Genesis  xvii. 
13;  Numbers  x.  8);  but  these  do  not  necessarily 
imply  that  it  shall  not  receive  a  more  perfect  form ; 
and  in  fact  many  passages  plainly  point  to  its 
destiny  to  act  as  the  slave,  himself  unlettered,  that 
conducts  a  boy  to  the  school  where  he  will  be 
taught.  (Galat.  iii.  24.)  See,  for  instance,  any  of  the 
well-known  Messianic  prophecies,  such  as  Deut. 
xviii.  15,  where  Moses  warns  the  people  of  Israel 
that  the  time  will  come  when  his  message  will  be 
spent  and  they  will  be  called  on  to  hear  another 
prophet;  and  in  the  New  Testament  we  see  that 
Jewish  priests  and  people  looked  forward  to  the 
coming  crisis.  (St.  Matt.  ii.  5 ;  St.  John  iv.  25.) 

The  positive  proof  of  our  doctrine  is  derived 
directly  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  through- 
out which  St.  Paul  insists  on  the  transient  character 
of  the  Synagogue  as  opposed  to  the  perennial 
existence  in  store  for  the  Church.  This  meaning  is 


H2]  THE  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE.  161 

plain  if  the  whole  Epistle  be  read  ;  but  we  may  cite 
especially  the  verse  (xii.  27)  where  St.  Paul  speaks 
of  the  translation  of  moveable  things  as  made,  that 
these  things  may  remain  which  are  immoveable: 
and  it  is  noticeable  that  the  Apostle,  addressing 
Jews,  rests  his  teaching  on  an  interpretation  of  two 
words  in  the  prophecy  of  Aggeus  (ii.  7),  and  shows 
us  the  depths  of  meaning  that  may  lurk  in  the 
minutest  portions  of  the  inspired  text. 

That  the  Fathers  did  not  believe  that  any  new 
public  revelation  was  possible,  is  plain  from  their 
constant  habit  of  appealing  to  Tradition,  as  the  one 
source  of  our  knowledge  of  Christian  truth.  We 
may  quote  St.  Irenaeus  (Contra  Hareses,  3,  I ;  P.G' 
7,  844) :  "  We  know  no  other  Gospel  than  what 
came  to  us  from  those  that  wrote  the  Scriptures. 
For  it  cannot  be  said  that  they  preached  before 
they  had  full  knowledge,  as  is  boldly  asserted  by 
some  who  boast  that  they  can  improve  upon  the 
Apostles.  After  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  and 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  had  perfect 
knowledge  and  went  forth  to  preach."  Further 
examples  of  such  passages  are  also  given  in  nn.  76, 
77,  106. 

113.  Progress  of  Theology. — But  although  there 
can  be  no  objective  increment  in  the  public  reve- 
lation committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Church, 
yet  Theology  is  far  from  being  a  dead,  unad- 
vancing  science ;  on  the  contrary,  it  makes  constant 
advances.  The  exact  mode  and  form  of  this  pro- 
gression has  varied  in  different  ages  of  the  Church, 
but  it  has  never  ceased.  No  serious-minded  man 
L  VOL.  i. 


i6a  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE.  [113 

will  suppose  that  the  truths  which  it  has  pleased 
God  to  reveal  contain  no  more  than  is  apparent  at 
the  first  glance ;  in  fact,  they  are  full  of  depths  of 
meaning  which  are  sounded  only  by  those  who 
bring  to  the  task  a  variety  of  qualifications,  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual,  which  this  is  not  the  place  I? 
enumerate.  This  labour  results  in  glimpses  being 
gained  of  truths  that  are  implied  in  the  monuments 
of  the  Tradition  of  the  Church  which  had  not 
hitherto  been  explicitly  recognized  and  set  forth. 
Mistakes,  no  doubt,  are  made  from  time  to  time ; 
theological  students  mistake  the  import  of  what  is 
before  them  and  draw  erroneous  conclusions,  and 
it  may  even  happen  that  they  gain  a  considerable 
following.  But  such  an  error  will  commonly  soon 
die  away  of  itself,  or  perhaps  will  be  condemned 
by  the  supreme  authority ;  but  in  some  cases,  the 
Holy  See,  in  its  prudence,  allows  the  controversy 
to  remain  undecided,  and  in  this  way  there  are 
schools  of  theology  within  the  Church,  more  or 
less  opposed  to  each  other,  and  well  inclined  to 
maintain  their  views,  but  all  agreeing  in  readiness 
to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Church,  whenever 
the  infallible  voice  is  heard.  In  this  way  an  end 
was  put  in  431,  by  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  to  the 
controversy  concerning  the  exact  mode  of  the  union 
of  the  Divine  and  Human  Natures  in  Christ;  in 
1854,  Pope  Pius  IX.  terminated  the  long  discussion 
concerning  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  our 
Lady;  and  the  Vatican  Council  of  1870,  under  the 
same  Pope,  finally  established  true  doctrine  as  to 
the  Primacy  and  Infallibility  of  the  Successor  of 


113]  PROGRESS  OF  THEOLOGY.  163 

St.  Peter.    All  this  will  be  better  understood  when 
the  Treatise  on  the  Church  has  been  read. 

When  speaking  of  the  Canon  of  Scripture 
(n.  152),  we  shall  explain  that  there  was  a  time 
when  doubts  existed  within  the  Church  as  to  the 
character  of  certain  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Before  these  doubts  were  raised,  there  had  been  a 
period  of  unreflecting  acquiescence  in  a  certain 
view  :  doubts  founded  on  difficulties  of  the  sort  that 
are  called  critical,  led  to  discussion :  discussion 
resulted  in  the  solution  of  these  doubts,  and  in  the 
explicit  recognition  of  what  had  been  implicitly 
held  from  the  beginning;  and  when  theological 
discussion  had  done  its  work,  the  Holy  See  gave 
the  sanction  of  its  authority  to  the  truth,  which 
thenceforward  became  an  integral  part  of  the 
defined  faith  which  cannot  be  denied  without  loss 
of  the  name  of  Catholic.  These  three  stages  of 
implicit  belief,  doubt  and  controversy,  and  explicit 
avowal,  sometimes  followed  by  formal  definition, 
may  be  recognized  in  the  history  of  many  points  of 
doctrine.  A  superficial  study  of  the  history  will 
sometimes  suggest  the  idea  that  the  doctrine  was 
new  when  the  first  critical  doubts  were  started ; 
but  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  it  becomes  clear 
that  there  is  nothing  new  in  the  substance  of 
the  doctrine,  but  only  in  the  mode  of  statement. 
These  three  stages  are  all  seen'  in  the  cases  of 
Baptism  by  heretics,  of  the  Real  Presence,  and  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception,  but  in  no  instance 
better  than  in  the  controversy  concerning  the 
Canon  of  Scripture, 


164  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE.  [114 

114.  The  Vincentian  Canon. — The  explanation 
just  given  serves  to  remove  the  difficulty  which  is 
sometimes  felt  in  understanding  how  the  Catholic 
Church  can  be  said  to  be  unchanging  in  faith  at  the 
same  time  that  cases  are  easily  produced  where  a 
matter  which  was  not  a  defined  doctrine  at  one 
date,  subsequently  comes  to  be  defined.  This  is  no 
more  a  change  than  it  is  a  change  for  the  germ  that 
is  in  a  seed  to  unfold  and  become  a  tree.  It  is  no 
change  of  doctrine  when  that  which  has  always  been 
held  implicitly,  becomes  the  subject  of  an  explicit 
declaration.  There  would  be  change  if  the  Church 
of  one  age  taught  as  of  faith,  what  had  not  been 
held  in  any  sense  in  a  previous  age  ;  still  more,  if  it 
taught  the  contradictory  of  what  had  been  previously 
held  :  but  neither  of  these  cases  has  occurred,  as 
we  shall  see  from  time  to  time,  as  we  treat 
particular  doctrines. 

The  reader  will  now  understand  the  sense  in 
which  we  may  accept  the  principle  laid  down  by 
Vincent  of  Lerins  in  a  well-known  passage,  which 
is  called  from  him  the  Vincentian  Canon.  This 
Vincent  was  a  monk  who  received  his  surname  from 
his  residence  at  Lerins,  an  island  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, off  the  south  coast  of  France.  He  lived  in 
the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century.  The  canon  in 
question  occurs  in  the  second  chapter  of  his  work 
called  Cotnmonitorium  (P.L.  50,  640),  and  runs  as 
follows:  "  In  the  Catholic  Church  we  must  with  all 
care  hold  that  which  has  been  held  in  all  places,  at 
all  times,  by  all  men,  for  this  is  truly  and  properly 
Catholic."  Comnwnitorium  is  the  name  given 


114]  THE    VINCENT  I  AN  CANON.  165 

to  a  work  having  for  its  full  title,  "A  Warning 
against  the  Profane  Novelties  of  all  Heresies,"  and 
this  title  sufficiently  describes  its  character.  Directed 
especially  against  certain  heresies  that  concerned 
the  Word  of  God,  and  His  union  with  Human 
Nature  in  Christ — Arian,  Nestorian,  and  others — its 
argument  is  by  no  means  confined  to  these  forms  of 
error,  but  extends  to  every  form  of  doctrine  that  is 
not  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church :  if  once  a 
doctrine  can  be  shown  to  have  been  received  as 
part  of  the  deposit  of  faith  in  all  places,  at  all  times, 
and  by  all  men,  then  this  doctrine  is  assuredly  part 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  whatever  is  opposed  to 
it  is  error ;  and  this  principle  is  as  true  now  as  it 
was  fourteen  centuries  ago,  and  it  leads  us  at  once 
to  reject  whatever  teaching  is  out  of  accord  with 
the  teaching  of  Ephesus  in  431,  or  with  the  Vatican 
Council  in  1870.  And  it  is  clear  that  Vincent  did 
not  mean  more  when  he  laid  down  his  canon ;  he 
did  not  mean  that  what  has  at  some  time  been 
denied  by  Catholic  theologians  cannot  be  part  of 
the  faith  ;  for  he  himself  points  out  (c.  6,  p.  646) 
that  the  Saint  and  Martyr  Cyprian  fell  into  error 
in  denying  the  validity  of  Baptism  administered 
by  heretics,  a  point  which  had  not  been  definitely 
decided  by  the  Church ;  and  his  error  gave  occasion 
to  a  letter  of  Pope  St.  Stephen,  who,  quoting  the 
great  principle  that  no  novelties  were  to  be  intro- 
duced which  Tradition  did  not  teach,  finally  settled 
the  controversy. 

115.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  which   has 
been  mainly  historical,  and  which  has  been  illustrated 


166  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DOCTRINE.  [115 

by  reference  to  sundry  points  of  Catholic  doctrine 
which  will  be  fully  explained  hereafter,  we  have 
seen  that  the  prophecy  read  in  the  Gospel,  that  false 
Christs  shall  arise  and  false  prophets,  has  had  its 
fulfilment  in  all  ages  of  the  Church.  Then  we  saw 
the  grounds  of  our  belief  that  the  public  revelation 
of  God  was  closed  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  and 
that  no  new  economy  of  salvation  is  to  be  expected 
in  succession  to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  it  was  then 
pointed  out  that  the  labour  of  theologians  upon  the 
deposit  was  continually  bringing  out  and  exhibiting 
explicitly  successive  portions  of  truth  which  up  to 
that  time  had  not  been  known  except  implicitly; 
and  finally  the  sense  of  the  Vincentian  Canon  was 
explained,  and  thus  the  Treatise  on  Tradition  was 
brought  to  a  close. 


{Treatise  tbe  Ubfrfc. 
HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

WHAT   IS   MEANT   BY   "SCRIPTURE." 

116.  Plan  of  Treatise. — We  have  already  on  many 
occasions  quoted  the  Holy  Scripture,  sometimes 
treating  its  authority  as  decisive  on  the  questions 
which  we  have  discussed,  and  often  using  it  in  such 
a  manner  as  implies  that  a  special  authority  belongs 
to  these  Books,  such  as  no  other  books  can  claim  to 
possess.  Yet  we  have  so  far  not  given  any  reason 
for  holding  this,  and,  in  fact,  we  have  deviated 
slightly  from  logical  order,  anticipating  matter 
which  was  yet  to  come.  No  other  course  could  be 
adopted  without  a  serious  sacrifice  of  convenience 
to  merely  formal  accuracy,  and  the  present  Treatise 
will  justify  the  assumptions  that  we  have  made. 
Something  similar  will  be  met  with  in  other  parts 
of  Theology ;  the  science  forms  one  organic  whole, 
each  part  ramifying  so  as  to  become  connected 
with  other  parts,  so  that  there  are  no  sharp 
divisions ;  every  arrangement  into  Treatises  is 
necessarily  to  some  extent  arbitrary  and  artificial; 


168  WHAT  IS  MEANT  BY  "SCRIPTURE."  [116 

these  divisions  are  needed  by  the  learner,  but  he 
cannot  expect  to  understand  any  part  thoroughly 
until  he  has  studied  other  portions  which  deal  with 
kindred  matter. 

117.  Subject  of  Chapter. — It  will  be  found  that 
there  are  three  classes  of  occasions  on  which  we 
have  used  the  authority  of  the  Scripture.  In  our 
first  Treatise,  we  used  the  Gospels  and  some  of  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  along  with  the  Annals  of 
Tacitus,  the  Letters  of  Pliny,  and  other  materials, 
as  ancient  documents  which  gave  a  trustworthy 
account  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  other  circum- 
stances which  established  the  Divine  Mission  of  the 
Worker  of  these  miracles,  and  conveyed  to  us  some 
knowledge  of  His  teaching.  So  far  the  Scripture 
was  treated  as  if  it  were  a  purely  human  work,  and 
we  could  not  expect  that  those  who  did  not  admit 
our  doctrine  should  treat  it  in  any  other  manner. 
But  our  second  Treatise  dealt  with  opponents  who 
are  as  ready  as  ourselves  to  admit  the  decisive 
authority  of  Scripture,  except  that  they  do  not 
altogether  agree  with  us  in  drawing  up  the  list  of 
Books  to  which  the  Scriptural  character  belongs; 
and,  therefore,  as  long  as  we  avoided  the  disputed 
Books,  we  were  at  liberty  to  use  the  rest  as  authori- 
ties in  the  controversy  on  which  we  were  engaged  ; 
accordingly,  we  employed  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul 
to  St.  Timothy,  which  we  could  not  have  quoted  in 
our  first  Treatise  without  entering  on  a  discussion 
of  their  genuineness ;  for  questions  have  been  raised 
whether  they  are  the  work  of  St.  Paul,  and  it  would 
have  been  inconvenient  and  needless  to  delay  in 


117]  SUBJECT  OF  CHAPTER.  169 

order  to  settle  the  point.  In  this  polemical  matter, 
therefore,  our  argument  is  partly  ad  hominem.  But 
thioughout  both  Treatises  we  have  done  something 
towards  showing  how  the  Catholic  doctrine  is  con- 
tained in  the  monuments  of  Tradition,  and  this,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  part  of  the  work  of  a  theologian 
(n.  84);  and  it  is  here,  if  anywhere,  that  we  have 
slightly  anticipated  what  will  be  proved  in  the 
present  Treatise. 

This  first  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  giving 
some  account  of  the  Books  that  constitute  the  Holy 
Scripture. 

118.  "Scripture,"  "Bible." — There  is  a  collection, 
or  rather  series,  of  Books  which  are  now,  and  have 
long  been,  held  in  special  honour  among  Christians, 
and  a  portion  of  which  are  now,  and  have  long 
been,  held  in  special  honour  by  the  Jews :  and 
these  Books  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  Scripture. 
Those  Books  of  Scripture  which  relate  to  the 
centuries  before  the  Birth  of  Christ,  form  the  Old 
Testament,  from  which  the  New  Testament  is  dis- 
tinguished. It  is  usual  to  bind  these  Books  together 
into  one  volume,  and  this  volume  is  called  the  Bible. 
We  shall  see  in  our  next  chapter  that  there  are 
other  names  by  which  these  Books  have  been 
known ;  and  we  shall  there  see  that  besides  there 
being  names  applied  to  the  Books  as  a  whole,  there 
is  much  else  that  can  be  said  about  them  in 
common ;  but  at  present  we  shall  point  out  various 
respects  in  which  they  do  not  agree ;  and  in  this 
way  we  shall  obviate  by  anticipation  many  mistakes 
that  are  rife  as  to  their  true  character. 


170  WHAT  IS  MEANT  BY  "SCRIPTURE."  [uc, 

119.  Date  of  Composition. — Whatever  doubts  there 
may  be  as  to  the  date  of  the  composition  of  parti- 
cular Books  of  Scripture,  the  discussion  of  which 
does  not  belong  to  Theology,  but  must  be  sought  in 
the  Introduction  to  the  various  Books,  it  is  certain 
that  many  centuries   elapsed   between  the  earliest 
and  the  latest.     The  earliest  Books  we  believe  to 
date  from  1400  years  before  Christ,  being  the  first 
five  Books,  collectively  called  the  Pentateuch,  or  five 
volumes,  the  work  of  Moses ;  the  latest  is  commonly 
reckoned  to  be  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  the  date  of 
which  is  perhaps  not  much  earlier  than  ico  after 
Christ. 

1 20.  Original    Languages.  —  Various    languages 
were  employed  for  the  originals  of  the  Scripture. 
The  greater  part  of  the  Old  Testament  was  written 
in  Hebrew,  which  was  and  is  the  proper  language  of 
the  Israelites,  and  was  therefore  naturally  employed 
by  writers  who  addressed  themselves  primarily  to 
Israelites.     For  certain  portions,  however,  a  kindred 
language  was  employed,  which  is  called  Chaldee  or 
Syriac.     This  is  the  language  which  was  in  use  on 
the  east  of  the  Euphrates,  in  the  country  to  which 
the  Jews  were  carried  as  captives  by  King  Nabucho- 
donosor,  about  600  years   before   Christ    (2  Paral. 
xxxvi.  20),  and  Daniel,  who  was  among  the  captives, 
employed  it  for  part  of  his  Book.     It  first  occurs  in 
the  fourth  verse  of  the  second  chapter :  "  And  the 
Chaldeans  answered  the  King  in  Syriac,  O  King, 
live    for  ever."     Down  to  the  word   Syriac,  all   is 
Hebrew,   but   O  King  is   Chaldee,  and   the   same 
language  is  employed    up  to  the  seventh  chapter ; 


120]  ORIGINAL  LANGUAGES.  171 

Hebrew  is  resumed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  words, 
0  King,  &c.,  are  given  in  the  language  in  which 
they  were  originally  spoken ;  but  there  is  no 
apparent  reason  why  the  same  language  is  retained 
in  what  follows,  nor  why,  after  a  while,  the  use  of 
Hebrew  is  resumed.  Something  similar  is  found  in 
the  First  Book  of  Esdras,  which  is  concerned  with 
affairs  immediately  after  the  Captivity,  where  two 
pass?ges,  iv.  8,  vi.  18,  and  again,  vii.  12 — 26,  are  in 
Cbaldaic.  The  latter  of  these  is  a  letter  of  King 
Artaxerxes,  given  doubtless  in  its  original  language ; 
the  former  also  opens  with  a  citation,  although  it 
goes  on  to  other  matter.  There  is  another  instance 
(Jerem.  x.  n),  where  the  Prophet  puts  some  words 
into  the  mouth  of  his  hearers ;  and  as  early  as 
Genesis  xxxi.  47,  it  is  remarked  that  the  language 
of  Jacob,  the  Hebrew,  was  different  from  that  of 
Laban,  who  dwelt  in  the  east  country.  (Genesis 
xxix.  i.)  The  use  of  the  name  Chaldee  for  the 
language  here  spoken  of  is  thoroughly  established 
and  will  not  mislead,  although  it  originated  in  an 
error,  and  is  regarded  as  absurd  by  Semitic 
scholars.  (Wright,  Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Semitic 
Languages,  p.  16.)  This  tongue  is  very  nearly,  but 
not  quite,  identical  with  what  is  commonly  called 
Syriac. 

A  large  part  of  the  Old  Testament  is  still  extant 
in  the  original  Hebrew  or  Chaldaic,  and  this  part 
constitutes  the  whole  of  what  is  recognized  by  the 
Jews,  whom  the  Protestants  follow.  Besides  these, 
the  Tradition  of  the  Church  recognizes  two  Books 


172  WHAT  IS  MEANT  BY  "SCRIPTURE."  [120 

of  Greek  origin,  and  five  Books  which  seem  to  have 
been  written  originally  in  Hebrew,  although  they 
are  now  extant  only  in  a  Greek  translation,  as  is  the 
case  also  with  large  parts  of  the  Books  of  Daniel 
and  Esther.  These  seven,  Ecclesiasticus,  BarucL, 
Tobias,  Judith,  and  the  First  of  Machabees,  together 
with  Wisdom  and  the  Second  Machabees,  are  called 
deuterocanonical  Books,  for  reasons  which  will  be 
explained  in  our  fourth  chapter  of  this  Treatise, 
where  their  claim  to  be  considered  part  of 
Scripture  will  be  established.  The  Protestants, 
who  reject  them,  brand  them  with  the  name  of 
Apocrypha. 

Probably  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  was 
written  in  Greek.  There  is  some  doubt  whether 
the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  and  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  may  not  have  had  a  Hebrew  origin,  but 
however  this  may  be,  nothing  is  now  in  existence 
which  is  prior  to  the  Greek  of  these  two  Books, 
from  which  all  the  versions  are  derived. 

121.  Writers. — Many  of  the  Books  of  Scripture 
are  anonymous,  nor  has  tradition  preserved  the 
name  of  the  writer ;  such  are  the  later  Books  of 
Kings,  the  Paralipomena,  the  Machabees,  and  Job. 
Others  are  believed,  with  more  or  less  certainty,  to 
have  been  written  by  the  leading  men  whose  actions 
they  relate;  Moses,  for  instance,  and  Samuel. 
Many  of  the  Psalms  were  written  by  David,  but 
not  all ;  and  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  super- 
scriptions or  "  titles  "  prefixed  to  a  large  proportion 
of  the  Psalms,  are  perhaps  no  part  of  the  inspired 
Scripture.  The  three  Books  of  Proverbs,  the 


I2i]  WRITERS.  173 

Preacher,  and  the  Song  of  Songs,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  a  part  of  the  first  named  (see  Cornely's 
Introductions],  were  written  by  Solomon,  but  the 
same  cannot  be  said  of  Wisdom  and  Ecclesiasticus, 
which  deal  with  a  somewhat  similar  argument. 
The  Books  of  the  Prophets  were  probably  put 
together  each  by  him  whose  name  it  bears,  or  by 
his  immediate  disciples ;  but  it  must  be  carefully 
remembered  that  the  prophetic  gift  itself  was  some- 
thing different  from  the  commission  to  write  a 
Book ;  thus  Elias,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the 
Prophets,  seems  to  have  written  nothing. 

The  whole  of  the  New  Testament  was  written 
by  Apostles,  except  the  Gospels  of  St.  Mark  and 
St.  Luke,  which  are  taken  to  represent  the  teaching 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  respectively.  (St.  Iren. 
Contra  Hcereses,  3,  i ;  P.G.  7,  845;  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl. 
3,  34;  P.G.  20,  300,  quoting  Papias.) 

122.  Extent. — The  Books  of  Scripture  are  of 
very  various  extent.  Genesis  contains  fifty  chapters, 
the  Prophecy  of  Isaias  sixty-six.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Epistle  to  Philemon,  the  second  and  third 
of  St.  John,  and  that  of  St.Jude,  are  confined  to  a 
single  chapter  each.  The  number  of  chapters 
indicates  roughly  the  extent  of  the  Book.  The 
division  into  chapters  does  not  come  from  the 
original  authors,  being,  in  fact,  no  older  than 
the  thirteenth  century  after  Christ,  and  due  either 
to  Stephen  Langton,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
(1227),  or  to  the  Dominican  Cardinal  Hugh  a 
Sancto  Caro  (1262).  The  verses  were  first  numbered 
in  a  Paris  edition  of  the  Vulgate  (1548).  On  these 


174  WHAT  IS   MEANT  BY  " SCRIl^TURE."  [122 

and  other  divisions  of  the  Scriptures,  see  Comely, 
Introductio,  i.  35. 

123.  Style. — Nor    is   there    less    variety  in   the 
literary  style.      Thus   we   have   bald    narration   in 
2    Paral.   xvi.    I — 5 ;    in    I    Mach.   xiv.  4 — 15,    the 
narrative  is  more  ornate.     A  good  specimen  of  the 
gnomic   style   is   found    in    Prov.  x.   i — 5,   and    in 
Wisdom   xiii.   n — 19,  there  is  close   philosophical 
reasoning.     Poetry  is  abundant,  and  the  83rd  Psalm, 
Quam  dilecta,  may  be  cited  as  a  convenient  specimen ; 
and  the  use  of  symbols  instead  of  speech  is  found  in 
Ezech.  x.  throughout. 

124.  Matter. — The  matter  of  these  Books  is  as 
various  as  the  style,  which  is  in  fact  accommodated 
to  it.     In  general  terms  we  may  say  that  the  Old 
Testament  gives  us  the  history  of  the  Creation  and 
Flood,  and  of  the  Israelite  and  Jewish  nation  down 
to  the  year  135  before  Christ.     But  this  history  is 
treated    mainly   with   the   view   of  illustrating  the 
providence   of    God    in   dealing   with   this   chosen 
nation ;    hence  there   are   long  intervals   in   which 
nothing   is    recorded,   and    we   may   suppose   that 
nothing    occurred    that    bore    upon    this    subject. 
Besides    this    history,    we    have    some    narrations 
instructing  us  in  piety,  such  as  the  stories  of  Ruth 
and  Tobit ;    there  is  direct  moral  teaching  in  the 
Book  of  Proverbs  and  elsewhere ;  the  Books  of  the 
Prophets  contain  exhortations,  and  in  the  Psalms 
we    have  examples    showing  us   how  we  ought  to 
praise  God  and  pray  to  Him. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  the  history  of  the 
Life  and  Death  of  Christ,  and  some  account  of  the 


124]  MATTER.  175 

actions  of  the  Apostles  ;  there  are  letters  of  instruc- 
tion and  exhortation,  and  one  letter  to  Philemon  on 
a  private  subject ;  and  lastly,  the  Apocalypse,  with 
the  account  of  the  revelations  vouchsafed  to  St.  John, 
which  closes  the  whole  series. 

125.  Recapitulation. — This  enumeration  of  the 
various  characters  of  the  Books  of  Scripture  makes 
it  clear  that  they  have  no  internal  bond  of  con- 
nection ;  the  unity  which  undoubtedly  belongs  to 
the  collection  must  be  sought  in  something  that  is 
external  to  its  members.  We  have  shown  that  it  is 
not  found  in  the  date,  language,  writers,  bulk,  style, 
nor  matter.  We  proceed  in  the  next  chapter  tc 
search  for  it  in  something  external. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    SPECIAL   CHARACTER    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

1 26.  Subject  of  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we  shall 
show    that   Jews   and   heathens   have   agreed   with 
Christians  in   recognizing  that  a  peculiar  character 
attaches  to  the  Books  that  we  call  Scripture.     This 
is  shown  by  the  zeal  of  the  heathen  for  the  destruc- 
tion  of   these  Books,  and  by  the  care  of  believers 
for  their  preservation,  as  also  by  the  laborious  study 
of    their  contents   and^  by   the    decisive    authority 
attributed  to  them. 

127.  Names  given  to  Scripture. — We  have  now  to 
see  what  there  is  that  belongs  in  common  to  all  the 
Books  of  which  we  have  hitherto  spoken  under  the 
name  of  Scripture  or  Scriptures.     This  name  itself 
occurs  some  fifty  times  in  the  New  Testament,  to 
denote  the  writings  that  make  up  the  Old  Testament. 
Examples  will  be  found  in  St.  Matt.  xxi.  42;  xxii.  29; 
St.  John  ii.  22;  Acts  i.  19;  Romans  i.  2;  i  St.  Peter 
ii.    6.     This    word    means    simply    Writings.      In 
2  Timothy  iii.  15,  another  word  is  employed  both 
in  the  Greek  and  in  the  Latin  (r<i  I'e/xfc  ypd^/jLara, 
sacra   litera,  instead    of   17  ypa<f>t),  or   ayiai  ypatyai, 
scriptura),  but  the  sense  is  the  same.  Various  reasons 
have  been  found  for  these  books  being  called  Holy : 


127]  NAMES  GIVEN  TO  SCRIPTURE.  177 

they  come  from  the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  the  matter 
they  teach  is  holy,  and  it  makes  holy  those  who  are 
guided  by  it.  Other  names  are,  the  Book  of  the 
Lord  (Isaias  xxxiv.  16),  and  the  Book  of  the  Law 
of  God.  (2  Esdras  viii.  8.)  The  word  Bible  is 
nothing  but  the  Greek  word,  /3t/3Xta,  meaning 
"  Books."  St.  Jerome,  and  others  in  imitation  of 
him,  use  Bibliotheca,  which  is  properly  Library.  It 
occurs  in  a  gossiping  letter  on  literary  subjects 
(Epist.  5  al  6,  ad  Florentium;  P.L.  22,  336) ;  numerous 
examples  from  later  writers  will  be  found  in  Ducange, 
Gloss.  Med.  et  Inf.  Latin,  s.v. 

The  word  Testament  which  we  apply  to  the  two 
collections,  Old  and  New,  properly  signifies  the  last 
will,  which  is  to  take  effect  after  the  death  of  him 
that  made  it;  and  St.  Paul  uses  it  in  this  sense,  and 
founds  an  argument  upon  the  mutable  nature  which 
it  retains  so  long  as  the  testator  lives.  (Hebrews  ix. 
15 — 17.)  But  the  same  word  is  used  in  the  Vulgate 
in  the  sense  of  "  covenant "  (St.  Matt.  xxvi.  28), 
where  it  represents  the  SiaQijici)  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  Greek  word  is  elsewhere  translated  fcedus,  or 
covenant,  in  the  Vulgate.  (Exodus  xxiv.  7.)  From 
"covenant"  to  "instrument  testifying  to  a  covenant," 
the  transition  is  easy,  and  this  explains  our  English 
use  of  the  word  Testament  for  the  collection  of 
Books  which  contain  the  particulars  of  the  covenant 
entered  into  by  God,  first  with  the  Israelitish  nation, 
and  then  with  the  Christian  people.  Tertullian  uses 
Instrument  in  the  same  sense.  See,  for  instance, 
Adv.  Marcionem,  4,  I  ;  P.L.  2,  361. 

The  name  Canonical  Book  will  be  more  con- 

M  VOL.  I. 


178        THE  SPECIAL  CHARACTER  OF  SCRIPTURE.    [127 

veniently  explained   in  the  fourth  chapter  of  this 
Treatise,  (n.  148.) 

128.  Mode  of  citation. — A  peculiar  form  is  used 
whenever  one  of  these  Books  is  cited  in  another. 
"  It   is   written,"   is   the   formula   in   the    Synoptic 
Gospels  and  St.  Paul  (St.  Matt.  iv.  4;  Romans  i.  17), 
and  the  slightly  different  form  of  the  verb  employed 
by  St.  John  (j€jpafifjtevov  €<rrivt  instead  of  yeypairrat) 
can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  translation.  (St.  John 
ii.  17.)     From  the  New  Testament  the  same  usage 
passed    to  the   Fathers,   so   that   when    any   early 
writer  employs  this  formula  in  citing  a  Book,  we 
have  an  accepted  proof  that  he  regarded  this  Book 
as  forming  a  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     Much  is 
made  of  this  text  by  writers  on  the  Canon,  and  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  employ  it  in  our  chapter  on 
the  subject. 

129.  Decisiveness. — It  may  be  observed  that  when 
a  Book  of  Scripture   is   cited,  it    is  treated    as   a 
decisive  authority,  against  which  there  is  no  appeal. 
A  good    instance   is   seen   in   the  narrative  of  the 
Temptation  of  our  Lord  (St.  Matt.  iv.  4 ;  St.  Luke 
iv.  4) ;  but  the  examples  are  very  frequent,  such  as 
Acts    xxiii.    5;    Romans   xiv.    n.      Naturally,   Ihe 
Scriptures  are  not  quoted  in  discourses  addressed 
to   the    heathen,    but  Jews    and    Christians    alike 
admitted  their  authority  as  decisive. 

130.  Manuscripts  and  Versions. — It  will  be  sufficient 
to  remind  the  reader  of  what  was  said  in  our  first 
Treatise  (nn.  49,  50),  concerning  the  multitude  of 
manuscripts   of  the  Scriptures,   in  a  great  variety 
of  languages.    This  evidence  of  care  suffices  to  show 


130]  MANUSCRIPTS  AND    VERSIONS.  179 

the  esteem    in  which  these  Books  were   held,  far 
above  any  other  writings. 

131.  Laborious  Study. — The  same  high  esteem  for 
these  books  above  all  other  books  is  shown  by  the 
diligence  with  which  they  were  studied.  They  were 
constantly  read  in  the  assemblies  of  Christians,  and 
were  the  basis  of  argument  and  exhortation.  And 
to  this  use  corresponded  the  assiduous  toil  at  their 
study  and  interpretation  which  occupied  so  large 
a  part  of  the  lives  of  the  great  writers  of  the  Church, 
with  results  of  which  their  works  are  full.  No  books 
approach  these  of  which  we  are  speaking  in  the 
number  of  commentaries  which  have  been  written 
upon  them,  and  men  of  the  highest  intellectual 
ability,  such  as  St.  Augustine,  have  thought  their 
time  well  spent  in  searching  out  the  meaning  of  each 
phrase  of  this  text ;  a  labour  which  they  would  have 
disdained  to  employ  in  the  case  of  any  other  book. 
The  result  has  been  that  in  all  Catholic  countries 
the  minds  of  men  are  filled  with  the  phraseology  of 
the  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  more  so  in  proportion 
as  religion  flourishes  among  them ;  and  they  find 
this  familiarity  to  be  perfectly  consistent  with  a 
dutiful  submission  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church. 
The  men  who  lived  in  those  centuries  which  are 
sometimes  called  the  "  Dark  Ages  "  and  sometimes 
the  "  Ages  of  Faith,"  were  certainly  not  lacking  in 
the  spirit  of  humble  acceptance  of  whatever  came  to 
them  by  the  tradition  of  the  Church  ;  yet  their  minds 
were  altogether  saturated  with  Holy  Scripture,  as 
will  be  easily  seen  by  any  one  who,  being  himself 
familiar  with  the  version  in  use  in  those  days,  wilJ 


i8o       THE  Sl'LClAL  CHARACTER  Ob'  SCRIPTURE.      [131 

study  a  page  of  their  writings  with  the  view  of  noting 
the  ideas  and  phrases  that  are  borrowed  from  the 
Scripture. 

132.  Esteemed  by  the  Jews. — The  esteem  in  which 
the  Scriptures  were  held  by  the  Jews  is  testified  by 
the  care  with  which  the  Hebrew  copies  were  made, 
as  may  be  seen  in  any  book  on  the  usages  of  the 
people.  It  is  proved  too  by  the  elaborate  machinery 
of  points  and  accents  by  which  their  learned  men 
strove,  with  dubious  success,  to  keep  alive  the 
traditional  pronunciation.  They  preserved  the  text 
with  sacred  care ;  and  for  this  object  they  went 
through  the  labour  of  counting  the  verses  in  each 
book  and  noting  which  verse  held  the  middle  place. 
And  a  still  stronger  proof  of  their  almost  excessive 
reverence  for  the  letter  is  found  in  this,  that  they 
invented  an  immense  science,  called  the  Cabbala, 
which  set  about  the  task  of  deducing  secret 
meanings  from  the  numerical  value  of  the  letters 
composing  a  word.  In  the  Hebrew,  as  in  many 
other  alphabets,  each  letter  represents  a  number, 
and  the  numerical  value  of  a  word  is  that  obtained 
by  adding  together  the  numerical  values  of  the 
letters.  The  fundamental  principle  of  the  Cabba- 
listic science  was  that  when  two  words  had  the  same 
numerical  value,  their  meanings  must  have  some 
secret  connection  which  it  was  the  business  of  the 
student  to  discover.  It  was  pretended,  without  an 
atom  of  proof,  that  the  bases  of  this  science  had 
been  revealed  to  Moses,  and  the  knowledge  of  them 
was  handed  down  by  secret  tradition.  Of  course,  in 
skilful  hands  it  led  to  very  remarkable  results ;  but 


132]  *    ESTEEMED  BY  THE  JEWS.  181 

its  only  interest  to  us  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  proves 
how  thoroughly  the  Jews  were  imbued  with  the 
conviction  that  the  Books  of  Scripture  were  in  some 
way  different  from  all  other  books. 

Their  reverence,  carried  to  such  excess,  raises 
a  presumption  that  they  did  not  tamper  with  the 
text, .and  it  is  certain  that  they  have  not  done  so. 
In  proof,  we  must  distinguish  the  time  that  went 
before  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles 
from  the  years  that  followed.  For  the  first  period 
the  proof  is  negative ;  there  is  no  trace  of  any  such 
corruptions,  although  the  Old  Testament  contains 
much  matter  which  redounds  to  the  discredit  of 
the  Israelitish  nation :  and  in  the  New  Testament 
nothing  of  the  sort  is  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Jews, 
but  they  are  congratulated  on  the  honour  of  being 
custodians  of  the  words  of  God  (Romans  iii.  2)  :  for 
the  second  period,  we  have  positive  proof,  for  the 
Greek,  Latin,  and  Syriac  versions  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  Christians ;  and  comparing  these  with  the 
Hebrew  text  as  preserved  by  the  Jews,  we  find 
substantial  identity,  and  in  particular  the  great 
Messianic  prophecies  are  read  in  the  Hebrew  as 
clearly  as  in  those  copies  which  the  Gentiles  used. 
The  innocence  of  the  Jews  in  this  respect  seems  to 
be  established  beyond  doubt ;  nevertheless,  it  is  no 
great  matter  of  surprise  that  the  charge  of  corrupting 
the  Scriptures  was  made  against  them.  References 
to  several  authors  of  ancient  and  comparatively 
modern  times,  who  have  made  the  charge,  will  be 
found  in  Cornely's  Introduction,  i.  270.  Some  of 
these  passages  do  not  seem  to  impute  corruption  of 


i8a      THE  SPECIAL  CHARACTER  OF  SCRIPTURE.      [132 

the  text,  but  unfair  translation  under  the  influence 
of  what  would  now  be  called  dogmatic  prejudice :  as 
when  damsel  is  put  instead  of  virgin  in  Isaias  vii.  14. 
(St.  Irenaeus,  c.  Hcer.  3,  21 ;  P.G.  7,  946.)  St.  Justin 
Martyr  (c.  Tryphon.  71 ;  P.G.  6,  641)  speaks  of 
authorities  existing  in  the  Books  which  the  Jews 
still  hold  to,  implying  that  he  believed  them  to  have 
suppressed  some  Books :  Tertullian  says  roundly 
that  the  Jews  reject  almost  all  passages  that  speak 
of  Christ  (De  Cultu  Feminarum,  3 ;  P.L.  i,  1308),  and 
Origen  accuses  them  of  keeping  and  issuing  garbled 
copies  for  the  use  of  the  people,  while  their  learned 
men  had  perfect  copies  for  their  own  use.  (Epist.  ad 
Africanum,  9;  P.G.  n,  65.)  These  accusations  seem 
to  have  been  baseless :  they  were  due  to  mistakes 
which  are  excusable  when  we  remember  the'difficulty 
which  was  experienced  in  procuring  correct  copies. 
St.  Jerome  (In  Isaiam  3,  7;  P.L.  24,  99)  quotes  Origen 
as  defending  the  Jews  against  these  charges  by 
pretty  much  the  same  arguments  as  we  used  above ; 
and  St.  Augustine  (De  Civit.  Dei,  15,  13;  P.L.  41,  452) 
makes  the  remark  that  if  the  copies  of  the  Hebrew 
used  by  the  Jews  throughout  the  world  are  found  to 
differ  from  the  Septuagint,  it  is  most  probable  that 
this  last  is  in  error;  for  a  mistake  made  accidentally 
in  an  early  transcript  of  the  Greek  may  well  have 
been  transmitted,  but  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  alter  the  multitude  of  Hebrew  copies  in  all 
countries  of  East  and  West. 

133.  Heretics  and  Heathens. — We  have  a  further 
proof  of  the  special  esteem  in  which  these  books 
were  held  in  early  times,  as  a  sign  that  they  were 


HERETICS  AND  HEATHENS. 


believed  to  differ  essentially  from  all  other  books,  in 
the  use  made  of  them  by  heretics,  who  sometimes 
rejected  particular  Books  of  Scripture  or  added 
to  the  list,  but  who  never  ventured  to  deny  the 
authority  of  the  collection  as  a  whole  :  the  only 
exception  being  perhaps  the  case  of  those  sects  who 
regarded  the  Old  Testament  as  the  utterance  of 
a  Being  inferior  to  the  God  of  the  New  Testament, 
or  perhaps  opposed  to  Him  :  but  even  these  acknow- 
ledged the  Old  Testament  as  not  being  a  merely 
human  utterance.  And  lastly,  the  same  point  is 
illustrated  by  the  course  adopted  by  the  Emperor 
Diocletian  in  303,  when  he  began  his  final  attempt 
to  suppress  the  Christian  religion,  and  ordered  that 
the  Sacred  Books  should  be  delivered  up  to  be 
burnt.  (Eusebius,  H.E.  3,  2  ;  P.G.  20,  745.)  God's 
providence  watched  over  the  preservation  of  the 
precious  deposit  that  He  had  committed  to  His 
Church,  and  the  Emperor's  will  was  not  carried  out 
to  the  full  :  nevertheless,  a  large  number  of  the  then 
existing  copies  were  destroyed,  and  this  may  be  the 
reason  why  no  fragment  has  survived  which  can  be 
supposed  to  have  been  written  before  the  fourth 
century.  To  deliver  up  the  Scriptures  to  the 
emissaries  of  the  Government  was  esteemed  a  form 
of  apostasy  :  up  to  this  time  three  classes  of  Lapsi 
had  been  recognized  ;  the  Sacrificati,  who  had 
actually  sacrificed  ;  the  Thurificati,  who  had  offered 
incense  to  the  idols  :  and  the  Libellatici,  who 
procured  by  bribery  a  false  certificate  that  they  had 
complied  with  the  law  :  the  fourth  class,  who  had 
delivered  up  the.  books,  were  called  Traditores.  (See 


184       THE  SPECIAL  CHARACTER  OF  SCRIPTURE.     fi33 

St.  Augustine,  De  Baptismo  contra  Donatum,  lib.  7,  c.  2, 
n.  3).  The  accusation  of  being  Traditores,  or  of  having 
communion  with  them,  and  being  thus  partakers  in 
their  guilt,  was  freely  handed  to  and  fro  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Donatist  controversy. 

134.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
illustrated  the  truth  that  a  special  character  was 
believed  to  belong  to  the  Books  of  Holy  Scripture 
as  shown  by  the  names  given  to  the  collection,  by 
the  mode  in  which  they  were  cited  and  their  decisive 
authority ;  by  the  care  taken  in  multiplying  copies 
and  versions  and  in  studying  them,  and  by  the 
conduct  of  the  Jews,  Heretics,  and  Heathen,  in 
their  regard. 


CHAPTER  III. 

INSPIRATION   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

135.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — The  two  preceding 
chapters  have  shown  us  that  the  Books  of  Holy 
Scripture  form  a  class  apart  from  all  others,  and 
that  the  common  character  which  thus  distinguishes 
them  is  not  found  in  anything  internal  to  the  books. 
We  must  now  inquire  what  truly  is  the  common 
character,  and  we  shall  find  it  in  the  truth  that  these 
books  are  the  works  of  one  and  the  same  Author, 
and  this  Author  is  God.  The  present  and  two 
following  chapters  differ  from  the  earlier  chapters  of 
this  Treatise  in  being  dogmatic,  whereas  the  others 
were  chiefly  either  historical  or  depended  on  simple 
inspection  of  the  Bible.  In  our  present  discussion 
we  shall  use  the  truths  that  have  already  been 
established :  that  Christ  being  a  Divine  Messenger, 
all  His  utterances  and  those  of  all  who  spoke  with 
His  authority  must  be  accepted  without  reserve: 
that  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  contain  an 
historically  credible  account  of  some  of  these 
utterances :  and  that  a  knowledge  of  these  utter- 
ances, so  far  as  they  concern  us,  is  preserved  by 
tradition  among  the  followers  of  Christ,  as  was 
proved  in  our  second  Treatise,  by  arguments  still 


i86  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  ['33 

founded  on  the  Scripture  considered  as  a  human 
history.  The  Divine  authorship  of  the  Scripture 
will  be  established  in  the  present  chapter,  and 
thenceforward  all  arguments  drawn  from  Scripture 
will  have  a  higher  importance  as  being  founded  on 
the  Word  of  God  Himself. 

136.  Doctrine  of  the  Church. — In  the  present 
chapter  we  speak  of  the  Scripture  in  general 
terms,  embracing  in  the  word  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  but  not  as  yet  entering  on  the 
controverted  question,  as  to  what  Books  constitute 
the  collection ;  a  question  which  will  occupy 
us  in  the  next  chapter,  on  the  Canon  of  Scripture. 
Subject  to  this  remark,  we  may  say  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  present  chapter  is  not  sub- 
stantially questioned  by  any  prominent  school  of 
writers  among  those  who  cordially  maintain  the 
supernatural  character  of  Christianity.  Those  who 
see  in  Christianity  nothing  but  a  product  of  the 
natural  powers  of  the  human  mind  cannot  con- 
sistently admit  the  inspiration  of  Scripture,  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  expression  has  always  been  used  ; 
and  they  endeavour  to  attach  a  new  sense  to  the 
word  inspiration,  for  they  do  not  venture  to  reject 
this  word  ;  we  shall  discuss  their  new  meanings  and 
show  their  insufficiency,  when  we  have  established 
our  own  doctrine,  (n.  144.) 

The  system  of  doctrines  and  principles  which 
has  existed  in  various  forms  and  which  goes  under 
the  name  of  Manicheism,  was  for  many  centuries 
one  of  the  chief  opponents  with  whom  the  Church 
had  to  contend.  A  leading  idea  among  the  Mani- 


136]  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  187 

cheans  was  the  intrinsically  evil  nature  of  matter, 
which  they  believed  to  owe  its  existence  to  a  Being 
who  was  not  the  Supreme  God,  but  a  rival  to  Him. 
But  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  proclaims 
Himself  the  Creator  of  matter;  wherefore,  most 
Manichean  sects  rejected  the  authority  of  these 
Books,  and  accepted  the  New  Testament  alon?,  and 
they  were  forced  to  tamper  even  with  this.  In 
opposition  to  this  error,  the  Church  insisted  on  the 
truth  that  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  came  from 
the  same  God,  and  expressed  this  by  saying  that 
the  same  God  was  Author  of  both :  a  way  of 
speaking  which  assured  us  not  merely  that  the  twc 
Testaments  are  not  contrary,  one  to  the  other, 
but  that  their  harmonious  agreement  was  a  result 
of  Divine  authorship.  And  since  these  definitions 
cannot  lead  us  astray,  as  was  established  in  our 
Treatise  on  Tradition  and  will  be  more  fully  ex- 
plained when  we  speak  of  the  Church  in  our  next 
Treatise,  it  follows  that  the  form  of  expression  used 
assures  us  of  more  than  the  point  which  was  imme- 
diately before  the  minds  of  those  that  used  it :  the 
form  in  which  they  expressed  themselves  on  the  two 
Testaments  disclosed  their  mind  as  to  the  common 
character  of  both. 

A  venerable  expression  of  the  truth  is  found  in 
the  Roman  Pontifical,  in  the  Order  for  the  Con- 
secration of  Bishops.  The  candidate  is  interrogated 
as  to  his  faith,  in  a  form  which  was  in  use  as  long 
ago  as  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  (Denzinger, 
Enchir.  xxxix.),  and  among  the  rest  he  avows  his 
belief  that  there  is  one  Author  of  the  New  and  Old 


i88  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [136 

Testaments,  the  Law,  Prophets,  and  Apostles,  the 
Almighty  God  and  Lord.  In  1439,  Pope  Eugenius 
IV.,  in  the  Council  of  Florence,  taught  the  same 
doctrine,  with  the  addition  of  the  reason.  For  the 
Saints  of  both  Testaments  spoke  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  same  Holy  Spirit ;  and  he  pronounced  an 
anathema  on  the  madness  of  the  Manicheans  who 
said  that  one  God  was  the  God  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  another  of  the  Old.  (Denz.  600.) 
The  Council  of  Trent,  in  its  fourth  Session  (1546),  is 
content  to  mention  parenthetically  that  one  God  is 
Author  of  both  Testaments  ;  the  Vatican  Council  of 
1870  (Constitut.  ima-  c.  2)  teaches  that  the  Books 
of  Holy  Scripture  having  been  written  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have  God  for  their 
Author.  (Denz.  1636.) 

137.  The  Teaching  of  Christ. — We  learn  the 
teaching  of  Christ  Himself  upon  this  matter  in  two 
ways :  by  His  not  correcting  the  belief  held  by  the 
Jews,  and  by  His  own  way  of  speaking.  There  are 
two  contemporary  Jewish  writers,  from  whom  we 
learn  the  views  current  among  that  people  at  the 
time,  Philo  and  Josephus,  and  their  testimony  is  the 
more  valuable,  because  they  give  it  in  a  merely 
incidental  manner,  as  assuming  something  in  which 
all  readers  would  agree,  and  not  as  distinctly  main- 
taining a  doctrine  which  might  be  peculiar  to  them- 
selves. It  will  be  sufficient  to  quote  a  single  passage 
from  each.  Philo  quotes  the  law  as  to  Cities  of 
Refuge,  given  by  God  through  Moses  (Exodus  xxi. 
12),  and  he  is  embarrassed  by  observing  what  he 
considers  to  be  a  superfluous  word  :  Shall  die  the 


i3y]  THE   TEACHING   OF  CHRIST.  189 

death  ?  Would  it  not  be  sufficient  to  say  Shall  die  f 
Philo  is,  he  says,  at  a  loss,  for  he  was  sure  that  the 
Lawgiver  would  not  have  inserted  a  redundant  word. 
(De  Profugis,  §  10,  vol.  3,  p.  1 21  of  Leipsig  Edition 
of  1828.)  Whatever  else  we  may  think  of  the 
passage,  it  at  least  shows  clearly  that  Philo  regarded 
God  as  the  Author  of  the  Scriptures,  and  responsible 
for  the  minutest  details  of  the  text.  Josephus  takes 
the  same  view  when  he  says  (Contra  Apion.  i,  7)  that 
the  Prophets  wrote  things  as  they  learned  them 
from  God  by  inspiration  ;  and  he  gives  the  name  of 
Prophets  to  all  the  writers  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Our  Lord  Himself  considered  that  which  is 
related  in  the  Scripture  as  having  been  said  by  God; 
for  He  treats  the  history  of  the  apparition  to  Moses 
in  the  burning  bush  (Exodus  iii.  6)  as  being  spoken 
by  God  to  the  Sadducees  of  His  own  time  (St.  Matt, 
xxii.  31),  which  could  not  be  unless  God  still  spoke 
in  the  pages  of  His  Book.  As  long  as  a  book 
survives,  an  author  speaks  to  his  readers :  but  he 
does  not  speak  in  the  pages  of  another. 

138.  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles. — The  teaching  of 
the  Apostles  is  in  perfect  accord.     In  Acts  i.  16, 
St.  Peter    quotes   the    Scripture    which   the    Holy 
Ghost  spoke  by  the  mouth  of  David.     In  Hebrews 
iv.  3 — g,  God  is  repeatedly  treated  as  speaking  by 
the  Scriptures ;  and  in  Galat.  iii.  8,  the  gift  of  fore- 
sight is  ascribed  to  the  Scripture ;  not  surely  to  the 
material  Book,  but  to  its  Author,  the  all-foreseeing 
God. 

139.  The  Fathers. — Among  a  multitude  of  Patris- 
tic passages,  we    may  be  content    with    two :    one 


igo  INSPIRATION   OF  SCRIPTURE.  [139 

derived  from  the  East,  the  other  from  the  West. 
St.  Chrysostom  (Horn.  2,  in  Gen.  n.  2;  P.G.  53,  23) 
says  that  God,  wishing  to  put  an  end  to  a  temporary 
estrangement,  has  sent  letters  to  His  absent  friends; 
letters  written  by  God  and  brought  us  by  Moses. 
And  St.  Augustine  sets  forth  God's  authorship  and 
the  subordinate  part  played  by  the  human  writer 
in  the  following  forcible  manner :  "  All  that  God 
wished  us  to  know  concerning  His  doings  and 
sayings,  He  bade  be  written  by  man,  as  by  His  own 
hands."  (De  Consens.  Evangel.  I.  c.  35,  n.  54;  P.G. 
34,  1070.)  There  is  no  need  to  multiply  citations, 
for  the  point  is  not  disputed. 

140.  Man's  part.  The  Intellect. — But  although 
what  has  been  said  affords  complete  proof  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church,  that  God  is  the  Author  of 
the  Holy  Scripture,  yet  this  must  not  be  understood 
as  if  the  human  writer  had  no  part  in  the  work. 
This  is  plain  if  we  consider  the  literary  style  of  each 
Book,  which  is  found  to  be  in  accord  with  the 
character  of  the  human  writer,  or  .at  least  different 
from  that  found  in  the  works  of  different  writers. 
Critics  will  find  many  differences  of  style  in  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  St.  James,  and  St.  Peter;  in 
the  Prophecies  of  Isaias  and  Amos;  in  the  Psalms 
of  David  and  those  of  Asaph.  These  differences 
are  most  naturally  accounted  for,  by  supposing  that 
each  human  writer  wrote  according  to  his  natural 
disposition  and  circumstances,  in  such  style  as  he 
would  have  employed  in  a  work  which  was  com- 
pletely his  own ;  the  only  alternative  is  to  suppose 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  no  visible  purpose,  imitated 


I4o]  MAN'S   PART.     THE  INTELLECT.  191 

the  style  of  the  man  whom  He  employed  as  His 
secretary,  to  write  from  His  dictation,  an  arbitrary 
supposition  which  has  nothing  to  recommend  it : 
when  natural  agency  is  sufficient  to  bring  about  a 
result,  there  is  no  reason  to  invoke  supernatural 
influence. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Divine  Authorship  will 
not  be  preserved  unless  we  attribute  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  the  largest  and  most  important  part  in  the 
work  of  composition  ;  the  human  writer  is  in  the 
position  of  a  secretary  to  the  true  Author  of 
the  letter.  If  we  consider  the  relation  between  a 
secretary  and  him  for  whom  he  acts,  we  can  see 
something  of  the  nature  of  the  Divine  influence 
which  is  called  inspiration.  In  the  first  place,  a 
secretary  will  not  do  his  work  properly  unless  he  be 
accurately  informed  on  the  subject  of  his  discourse ; 
in  technical  language,  his  intellect  must  be  illumi- 
nated. It  is  immaterial  whether  we  suppose  che 
employer  himself  to  impart  the  needful  information 
to  his  secretary,  or  to  put  him  in  the  way  to  gather 
it  for  himself,  or  whether  he  choose  for  the  work 
one  who  is  already  fully  informed.  In  like  manner, 
God  sometimes  by  His  own  direct  action,  revealed 
to  the  holy  writers  what  He  would  have  them  write; 
as  when  the  Prophets  wrote  their  visions,  and  the 
Apostles  and  Evangelists  wrote  the  things  that 
they  had  seen  and  heard.  (Acts  iv.  20.)  Sometimes 
the  writer  gathered  his  information  from  the  best 
sources  open  to  him,  as  when  the  unknown  person 
who  put  together  the  Second  Book  of  Machabees 
found  that  he  bad  taken  in  hand  no  easy  task  in 


iga  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [140 

abridging  the  five  books  of  Jason  of  Cyrene  (2  Mach. 
ii.  24 — 33) ;  he  here  speaks  as  any  purely  human 
writer  might  do,  and  the  passage  is  sometimes  made 
a  ground  for  denying  the  inspiration  of  the  Book ; 
but  in  reality  nothing  more  is  here  said  than  we 
find  in  St.  Luke's  preface  to  his  Gospel,  who  tells 
us  of  his  diligence  in  inquiring  at  the  best  sources 
(St.  Luke  i.  I — 4) ;  nor  more  than  is  implied  in  the 
references  to  the  Book  of  the  Just  made  by  the 
writer  of  the  Book  of  Josue  (x.  13)  and  of  the  Second 
Book  of  Kings  (i.  18),  which  references  involved  a 
certain  labour ;  so  that  if  the  right  of  the  Books  of 
Machabees  to  be  considered  a  part  of  Scripture  is 
denied  on  this  ground,  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
must  be  rejected  with  them. 

Cases  where  a  Book  was  written  in  the  light  of 
the  information  which  the  writer  already  possesses 
from  natural  sources,  without  special  research, 
are  found  in  the  Epistles,  and  also  apparently  in 
the  instance  of  Genesis.  Moses  would  seem 
to  have  put  into  writing  the  traditions  that  had 
been  preserved,  perhaps  in  writing  or  perhaps  in 
the  memory  of  the  people,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  young  children  were  taught  the  story  by  their 
parents,  in  the  way  in  which  it  was  ordered  that 
the  remembrance  of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt 
should  be  kept  alive.  (Exodus  xii.  26,  27.)  The 
history  of  the  Creation  cannot  have  been  known 
except  by  revelation ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  this  revelation  was  made  to  Moses. 
More  probably  it  was  made  to  Adam,  and  became 
known  to  Moses  through  human  sources.  When 


I4o]  MAN'S  PART.     THE  INTELLECT.  193 

we  speak  thus  of  the  history  having  come  down  to 
Moses  by  tradition,  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
there  was  any  special  guarantee  that  the  whole  of 
this  traditional  history  should  be  preserved  free  from 
corruption ;  the  case  is  not  like  that  of  the  Tradition 
by  which  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  Revela^ 
tion  is  preserved,  free  from  admixture  of  error, 
in  the  Church  ;  it  is  enough  that  God's  providence 
preserved  Moses  from  being  misled  by  any  errors 
that  may  have  crept  into  the  current  account. 

141.  Man's  part.  The  will. — It  is  not  enough 
that  the  employer  should  take  care  that  his  secretary 
should  be  acquainted  with  the  matter.  If  the 
secretary,  of  his  own  accord,  and  without  being 
commissioned  to  do  so,  writes  a  treatise,  this  work 
is  his  own,  and  the  employer  cannot  be  said  to  be 
the  author.  The  design  must  come  from  the  author, 
and  he  must  stir  up  his  assistant  to  induce  him  to 
do  his  part ;  technically,  he  must  inflame  the  will. 
The  impulse  to  write  must  then  have  come  to  the 
inspired  writers  from  God,  for  otherwise  God  could 
not  be  said  to  be  the  Author  of  the  sacred  Books. 
It  follows  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
all  that  the  Apostles  committed  to  writing  was 
inspired,  even  though,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the 
Apostolate  involved  the  privilege  of  inerrancy  in 
matters  of  faith  and  morals.  An  Apostle  may  have 
written  on  indifferent  subjects  without  being  inspired; 
and  they  may  even  have  written  doctrinal  treatises 
in  the  exercise  of  the  natural  powers  of  their  will, 
without  any  special  motion  from  God.  It  is  even 
possible,  for  aught  that  we  see,  that  they  should  at 

P  VOL.  I. 


194  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [141 

one  time  have  written  under  inspiration  and  at 
another  time  not  under  inspiration,  without  being 
aware  of  the  difference;  it  is,  however,  highly 
improbable  that  they  ever  wrote  without  knowing 
well  the  nature  of  the  task  on  which  they  were 
engaged,  and  the  influence  under  which  they  under- 
took it. 

142.  Supervision. — Lastly,  before  the  employer 
finally  adopts  the  secretary's  work  as  his  own,  he 
must  be  careful  to  use  such  supervision  as  shall 
exclude  all  risk  of  matter  having  crept  in  for  which 
he  would  not  wish  to  make  himself  responsible; 
he  must  guard  himself  against  the  results  of  the 
mistakes  or  unfaithfulness  of  his  servant.  In  the 
case  of  Holy  Scripture  we  need  not  think  of  this  as 
having  required  what  we  should  conceive  as  being 
a  distinct  act  of  God,  but  it  must  have  been  involved 
in  the  illumination  of  the  intellect  and  inflaming  of 
the  will ;  otherwise  the  work  which  is  ascribed  to 
the  Divine  Author  would  be  liable  to  all  the  imper- 
fections of  the  works  of  man. 

This  supervision,  however,  is  far  from  being 
necessarily  equivalent  to  dictation.  If  two  secre- 
taries write  letters  in  the  manner  that  has  been 
described,  each  letter  may  well  express  the  views  of 
the  principal,  and  may  be  adopted  and  signed  by 
him,  and  so  made  his  own  ;  yet  a  competent  person 
would  easily  see  that  there  was  a  difference  of  style 
between  the  two.  In  the  same  way  it  is  not 
difficult  to  distinguish  those  parts  of  the  Scripture 
where  St.  Matthew  played  the  part  of  secretary 
from  those  which  we  owe  to  St.  John.  Tht 


14*]  SUPERVISION  195 

works  are  distinguishable  in  style,  although  they 
belong  to  the  same  Author  Who  stirred  the  writer 
to  undertake  the  task,  secured  him  the  requisite 
knowledge,  and  superintended  the  work  while  it 
was  in  progress. 

143.  Verbal  Inspiration. — Our  doctrine  is  opposed 
to  that  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Verbal  Inspira- 
tion, according  to  which  every  word  of  Scripture 
was  as  it  were  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spir't  to  the 
Prophets  and  Apostles,  so  that  they  acted  as  mere 
machines.  The  doctrine  of  Verbal  Inspiration 
preserves  the  Divine  Authorship  to  the  full ;  to  a 
greater  fulness,  in  fact,  than  is  needed.  It  is 
therefore  unproved,  and  it  is  open  to  the  grave 
objection  that  it  fails  to  account  for  the  varieties  of 
style  of  which  we  have  spoken.  In  regard  to  style, 
the  Books  of  Scripture  exhibit  the  same  variety  as 
might  be  expected  in  purely  human  books ;  but  if 
each  word  was  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  is 
no  way  of  accounting  for  these  varieties,  they  would 
seem  to  have  been  introduced  for  no  other  purpose 
than  that  of  misleading  the  reader.  There  are 
cases  where  there  may  be  room  for  doubt  whether 
a  particular  turn  of  phrase  was  "intended "  by  the 
Holy  Spirit — so  far  as  this  word  can  be  used  of 
God,  to  Whom  all  the  results  of  His  acts  are  known; 
in  these  cases  it  is  the  business  of  the  critic  to 
determine  what  teaching  is  contained  in  the  passage; 
the  question  is  often  very  subtle,  and  should  not  be 
approached  except  by  those  who  feel  themselves  to 
be  well  equipped  with  the  full  array  of  necessary 
qualifications ;  among  which  we  put  in  the  front 


196  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [143 

rank,  thorough  grounding  in  the  theology  of  the 
Church,  long  familiarity  with  the  Sacred  Text,  and 
the  disposition  to  be  ready  to  accept  the  truth  from 
another  rather  than  devise  a  novel  view.  In  some 
cases  the  Author  has  Himself  pointed  out  that  a 
true  meaning  is  conveyed  by  what  might  otherwise 
have  been  judged  to  be  a  casual  omission,  a  notable 
instance  of  which  we  find  in  Hebrews  vii.  3,  where 
we  read  why  it  is  that  in  Genesis  xiv.  18,  when 
Melchisedech  is  mentioned,  the  names  of  his  parents 
are  not  made  known. 

144.  False  views  of  Inspiration. — It  having  been 
proved  that  the  Books  of  Holy  Scripture  have  God 
for  their  Author,  and  that  this  character  marks 
them  off  from  all  other  books,  certain  false  views  of 
the  nature  of  inspiration  fa'l  of  themselves.  Two 
errors  are  noted  and  condemned  by  the  Vatican 
Council  (Constit.  I.  cap.  2,  De  Revclatione,  Denz. 
1636) ;  one  makes  the  essence  of  inspiration  consist 
in  adoption  by  the  Church,  even  where  the  book  so 
adopted  had  a  purely  human  origin ;  whereas  it  is 
impossible  for  a  book  which  is  once  written  to 
change  its  author ;  the  other  view  considers  that  it 
is  enough  that  they  contain  Revelation  without 
admixture  of  error;  whereas  this  may  be  said  of 
the  "Capitula"  of  the  Councils  of  Trent  and  the 
Vatican:  the  professor  may  watch  over  the  student's 
work  in  such  way  as  to  secure  him  from  committing 
himself  to  error,  but  without  interfering  with  the 
authorship  of  his  treatise.  The  word  "  inspiration  " 
is  sometimes  used  of  the  faculty  that  enables  a  man 
to  write  a  book  which  stirs  up  religious  emotions, 


144]  FALSE    VIEWS  OF  INSPIRATION.  197 

but  this  is  plainly  not  a  character  belonging  to  the 
whole  Bible,  as  will  be  seen  if  the  First  Book  of 
Paralipomena  is  read ;  nor  is  it  confined  to  the 
Bible,  for  it  is  found  also  in  such  works  as  the 
Imitation  of  Christ;  it  therefore  is  not  the  sense  in 
which  the  word  Inspiration  is  used  by  the  Church. 
The  Church  usage  originates  with  St.  Paul,  who 
wrote  to  St.  Timothy  that  all  Scripture,  inspired  by 
God,  is  profitable  to  teach ;  it  expresses  the  peculiar 
and  definite  character  of  Divine  Authorship;  and 
confusion  is  bred  if  it  be  used  in  any  other  sense. 

145.  Freedom  from  Error. — From  the  character 
of  an  author  we  judge  the  character  of  his  book. 
If  his  reputation  is  low,  we  freely  reject  his  teaching; 
if  high,  we  receive  what  he  says  with  respect,  but 
with  clear  remembrance  that  every  man  is  of  himself 
fallible ;  if  the  Author  be  all-perfect,  our  only 
reasonable  attitude  of  mind  is  that  of  absolute 
acceptance  of  His  statements.  Since  then  God  is 
the  Author  of  the  Scripture,  whatever  the  Scripture 
conveys  to  us  is  true.  This  principle  holds  without 
distinction  of  the  nature  of  the  matter  disclosed: 
of  its  greater  or  less  importance  with  reference  to 
what  we  conceive  to  be  the  principal  purpose  of  the 
writing.  It  is  an  imperfection  in  an  author  to  insert 
irrelevant  matter;  still  greater  is  the  imperfection, 
and  impossible  in  God,  to  insert  what  will  lead  the 
attentive  reader  into  error.  This  inerrancy  cannot, 
of  course,  be  asserted  of  every  word  which  is 
attributed  in  Scripture  to  the  characters  mentioned, 
as  when  we  read  the  question  of  the  Jews  (St.  Mark 
ii.  7) :  Who  can  forgive  sins,  save  God  only  ?  We 


198  INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [145 

no  more  accept  their  doctrine,  than  we  accept  it 
when  these  same  people  in  the  same  verse  say  of  our 
Lord  that  He  blasphemed ;  all  that  the  inspired 
writer  is  pledged  to  is  the  use  of  these  words  on 
this  occasion.  In  certain  cases  there  may  be  a 
doubt  whether  what  prima  facie  would  seem  to  be 
the  meaning  of  a  passage  is  its  true  meaning,  and 
commentators  must  apply  all  means  of  interpreta- 
tion, and  yet  occasionally  the  doubt  will  remain. 
It  is  tolerably  clear  that  Isaias  in  his  fifth  chapter 
is  not  writing  about  any  particular  existent  vineyard, 
while  commentators  differ  as  to  whether  the  Prophet 
Joel  in  his  first  chapter  describes  an  actual  visitation 
of  locusts.  Extrinsic  knowledge  may  show  ground 
for  not  accepting  the  surface-meaning  of  a  passage, 
and  the  result  is  that  there  is  now  more  difficulty 
than  formerly  in  the  way  of  a  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  history  of  the  Creation.  The  critic  must 
also  be  on  his  guard  against  errors  of  translation 
and  errors  of  transcription  ;  but  when  all  allowances 
are  made,  the  principle  remains  true  that  the 
meaning  conveyed  to  readers  by  the  original  docu- 
ment did  not  contain  the  smallest  error.  It  is  no 
less  certain  that  Jacob  divided  his  substance  into 
two  companies,  as  told  in  Genesis  xxxii.  7,  than  that 
Absalom  was  slain  as  he  hung  in  an  oak.  (2  Kings 
xviii.  14.) 

The  whole  subject  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  Holy  Scripture,  its  excellence, 
and  the  precautions  to  be  observed  in  its  study,  will 
be  found  in  the  Encyclical  of  Pope  Leo  XIII,, 
beginning  Providentissimus  Deus,  and  issued  November 


143]  FREEDOM  FROM  ERROR.  tftft 

18,  1893.  We  here  learn  that  God  by  His  super- 
natural influence  so  stirred  and  moved  the  human 
writers,  and  so  assisted  them,  that  they  rightly 
conceived  in  their  minds  that,  and  that  only,  which 
He  bade  them  write,  and  that  they  willed  to  write 
it  faithfully,  and  that  with  unfailing  truth  they 
expressed  themselves  aptly;  for  otherwise  God 
would  not  be  the  Author  of  the  whole  of  the  Sacred 
Scripture. 

146.  The  Fathers. — The  point  which  was  insisted 
on  in  the  last  paragraph  is  of  the  highest  importance, 
because  there  is  a  school  of  writers  who  think  that 
they  are  at  liberty  to  judge  whether  a  given  passage 
of  Scripture  is  of  doctrinal  or  moral  importance, 
and  if  they  find  it  to  be  of  little  weight,  they  will 
reject  its  historical  authority.  It  will  be  worth 
while  to  cite  a  few  passages  of  the  Fathers,  to  show 
how  far  these  great  Saints  and  learned  divines  of 
early  times  were  from  admitting  any  such  distinc- 
tion in  their  conflicts  with  the  rationalists  of  their 
time.  The  first  shall  be  St.  Justin  Martyr,  who  in 
the  course  of  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew 
(n.  65 ;  P.G.  6,  625),  was  challenged  to  reconcile 
two  seemingly  contradictory  texts.  He  answers : 
"  If  you  thought  to  lead  me  to  acknowledge  the 
existence  of  a  contradiction  in  Scripture,  you  are 
mistaken.  Never  will  I  venture  to  entertain  such 
a  thought,  or  say  such  a  thing;  if  anything  be 
produced  which  has  the  semblance  of  being  a 
contradiction  in  Scripture,  and  I  am  unable  to  clear 
it  up,  I  will  avow  that  I  do  not  understand  the 
passage,  and  will  endeavour  to  persuade  all  who 


INSPIRATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


are  in  perplexity  to  make  the  same  avowal."  The 
great  St.  Augustine  speaks  with  no  less  plainness  : 
"In  dealing  with  these  Books  you  must  not  say  that 
the  Author  was  mistaken  ;  but  either  the  reading  is 
corrupt  or  the  translation  faulty,  or  you  fail  to  catch 
the  meaning."  (St.  Aug.  Contra  Faustum,  n,  5  ;  P.L. 
42,  249.)  The  same  Saint  expresses  the  same  again 
in  a  letter  to  St.  Jerome  (Epist.  82,  n.  3;  P.L. 
33,  277),  and  in  another  letter  to  the  same,  he 
expressly  denies  the  possibility  of  irrelevant  inac- 
curacies, or  officious  lies  as  he  calls  them,  finding  a 
place  in  Scripture  (Epist.  28,  c.  3,  n.  3  ;  P.L.  33, 
113),  and  he  adds  the  reason  that  if  once  it  be 
allowed  that  such  a  thing  can  exist  in  Scripture, 
every  one  will  set  down  what  is  distasteful  to  him 
as  being  irrelevant.  This  piece  of  foresight  is  fully 
justified  by  experience.  St.  Jerome  expresses  his 
horror  at  being  supposed  to  wish  to  correct  the 
Gospel  narrative,  while  in  reality  his  only  wish  was 
to  restore  the  purity  of  the  text  (Epist.  27,  ad 
Marcellam,  n.  I  ;  P.L.  22,  431),  and  his  testimony 
is  all  the  more  weighty  because  he  elsewhere  shows 
himself  fully  alive  to  the  difficulties  with  which 
critics  have  to  deal  ;  and  we  will  conclude  with  one 
mort  testimony  from  a  Greek,  St.  Gregory  of 
Nazianzum  (Oratio  2,  De  Fuga,  n.  105  ;  P.G.  35, 
504),  who  holds  that  the  diligence  of  the  Spirit 
reaches  to  the  smallest  points  and  words.  If  this 
looks  like  holding  Verbal  Inspiration,  it  is  all  the 
further  removed  from  admitting  error  in  Scripture. 

147.  Recapitulation.  —  In  this  chapter  we  have  set 
forth  the   formal   teaching  of  the   Church  on  the 


I47]  RECAPITULATION. 


inspiration  of  Scripture,  and  have  proved  it  by  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Fathers, 
all  speaking  as  if  God  were  the  Author.  The  part 
of  the  human  writer  is  then  discussed,  after  which 
Verbal  Inspiration  is  dealt  with,  and  certain  false 
views  refuted,  some  of  the  Fathers  being  quoted  to 
establish  the  absolute  inerrancy  of  Scripture. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   CANON. 

148.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — Having  seen  that 
the  peculiar  character  of  the  Books  of  Scripture  is 
found  in  their  Divine  authorship,  we  must  now 
proceed  to  consider  what  are  the  Books  to  which 
this  character  attaches,  or  what  books  are  canonical. 
The  Canon  of  Scripture  is  the  authentic  list  of  the 
Books  of  Scripture;  hence  the  subject  of  the  present 
chapter  is  the  determination  of  the  Canon.  On 
theological  principles  this  determination  presents 
no  difficulty ;  we  have  an  express  declaration  of  the 
Church,  which  is  clear  and  unmistakeable,  and  gives 
rise  to  no  controversies  ;  but  the  justification  of  this 
declaration  from  the  accustomed  sources,  Scripture, 
Tradition,  and  Reason,  presents  no  small  difficulty. 
Scripture  is  silent  as  to  its  own  extent,  and  Reason 
has  no  place  in  the  discussion  of  a  positive  matter 
of  this  kind ;  there  remains  Tradition,  and  this  has 
not  always  spoken  with  clear  voice,  for  there  was  a 
period,  corresponding  more  or  less  to  the  latter  part 
of  the  fourth  century,  when  some  doubt  existed 
within  the  Church ;  a  doubt  which,  as  we  shall  see, 
arose  from  scholars  deserting  the  teachings  of 
Tradition  which  had  not  yet  been  authentically 


148]  SUBJECT  OF  THE  CHAPTER.  «o3 

declared  by  the  Church,  and  following  the  leadings 
of  their  own  scholarship.  Some  of  these  men,  as 
St.  Jerome,  were  in  the  front  rank  for  sanctity  as 
well  as  learning,  but  they  adopted  a  faulty  method, 
and  they  fell  into  error. 

The  full  discussion  of  the  matter  must  be  sought 
elsewhere.  It  properly  belongs  to  Introductions  to 
Holy  Scripture  to  justify  the  inclusion  of  each  Book 
in  the  Canon,  and  the  reader  must  be  referred  to 
Father  Cornely's,  or  similar  works.  An  historical 
question  of  this  kind,  turning  on  the  opinion  of 
various  Fathers,  would  require  copious  citations 
from  their  works,  together  with  such  explanation  as 
is  necessary  to  show  the  true  meaning ;  and  these 
would  occupy  more  space  than  we  can  afford.  We 
can  do  no  more  than  endeavour  to  point  out  the 
nature  of  the  existing  controversy,  and  indicate  the 
line  of  reasoning  which  justifies  the  decision  to 
which  the  Church  has  come. 

149.  The  rival  Canons. — The  list  of  canonical 
writings,  as  given  at  the  beginning  of  our  Bibles, 
contains  seventy-three  Books,  of  which  forty-six 
belong  to  the  Old  Testament  and  twenty-seven  to 
the  New.  Besides  these,  it  is  not  unusual  to  print 
in  editions  of  the  Vulgate  three  other  Books,  called 
the  Prayer  of  Manasses  and  the  Third  and  Fourth 
Books  of  Esdras.  The  matter  of  these  belongs  to 
Old  Testament  times,  but  they  are  no  part  of 
inspired  Scripture;  the  custom  of  printing  them 
along  with  the  inspired  Books  probably  comes  down 
from  the  days  when  the  Canon  was  as  yet  unsettled, 
and  is  retained  for  convenience;  their  inferior 


THE  CANON.  [146 


position  is  marked  by  their  being  placed  at  the  end, 
after  the  New  Testament.  In  what  follows  we  shall 
not  be  concerned  with  them. 

The  great  bulk  of  Protestants,  if  not  all  their 
sects,  agree  in  accepting  a  less  extensive  list  of 
canonical  Books.  They  reject  seven  of  the  Books 
of  the  Old  Testament  which  we  receive,  as  well  as 
large  portions  of  two  other  Books  :  in  the  New 
Testament  the  two  lists  are  in  perfect  agreement. 
The  Books  that  they  reject  are  Judith  and  Tobias, 
Ecclesiasticus  and  Wisdom,  the  Prophet  Baruch, 
and  the  First  and  Second  Books  of  Machabees. 

The  Protestants  give  the  name  of  Apocrypha  to 
the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  that  they  reject. 
But  this  word,  by  ecclesiastical  usage,  denotes  what 
is  of  no  authority,  mere  forgeries,  the  work  of 
unknown  authors  who  falsely  assumed  the  names 
of  Prophets  and  Apostles.  The  seven  disputed 
Books  are  not  of  this  nature,  for  even  they  who 
deny  that  they  are  inspired  Scripture,  acknowledge 
that  these  Books  had  a  respectable  origin,,  and  that 
they  may  be  read  for  example  of  life  and  instruction 
of  manners.  But  although  the  name  Apocrypha  is 
not  fairly  applicable  to  this  group  of  Books,  it  is 
certainly  necessary  to  have  some  name  by  which  to 
distinguish  them  ;  for  they  stand  apart  from  the 
other  inspired  Books  in  this,  that  at  one  time  there 
was  doubt  in  the  Church  concerning  their  authority. 
They  might,  if  usage  allowed,  conveniently  be 
termed  the  Disputed  Books,  as  distinguished  on  the 
one  hand  from  the  Acknowledged  Books  and  on 
the  other  from  the  Spurious.  These  classes  are 


i49]  THE  RIVAL   CANONS.  205 

discussed  by  Eusebius  (Hist.  Eccl.  3,  25 ;  P.G.  30, 
268 — 272),  and  were  perhaps  first  established  by 
him ;  the  terms  which  he  employs  are :  o/io\oyouyu,ei>o* 
for  the  Books  that  were  always  acknowledged ; 
avTikeyoftevoi  for  those  to  which  objections  were 
raised ;  and  vodoi  for  those  which  found  no  defenders. 
He  is  speaking  of  the  New  Testament,  but  his 
terminology  is  also  applied  to  the  Old.  The  terms 
at  present  in  most  use  for  the  Books  of  the  first 
class  is  to  say  that  they  are  protocanonical,  while  the 
second  class  are  deuterocanonical ;  these  cumbrous 
and  meaningless  words  were  first  used  by  Sixtus  of 
Siena,  a  converted  Jew  who  lived  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  became  first  a  Franciscan  friar,  but 
afterwards  a  Dominican.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
writers  who  treated  Scripture  in  what  would  now  be 
call  a  "  critical "  spirit,  and  his  works,  brought  out 
under  the  patronage  of  St.  Pius  V.,  had  wide 
circulation,  and  his  language  passed  into  common 
use.  We  may  say  then  that  Catholics  admit  to  the 
Canon,  and  Protestants  reject,  the  seven  deutero- 
canonical Books  of  the  Old  Testament. 

In  the  New  Testament  also  there  are  seven 
deuterocanonical  Books:  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  Second  and 
Third  of  St.  John,  the  Epistles  of  St.  James  and 
St.Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse;  also,  three  passages 
from  the  Gospels  fall  into  the  same  class  ;  the  last 
twelve  verses  of  St.  Mark,  the  history  of  the  Agony 
and  Bloody  Sweat  in  St.  Luke  xxii.  43,  44,  and  the 
history  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  St.  John 
vii.  53 — viii,  u.  AH  these  were  at  one  time  doubtecl 


ao6  THE  CANON  [l4g 

in  the  Church,  and  therefore  cannot  be  called 
protocanonical ;  the  history  of  the  controversy  in 
their  regard  is  however  quite  different  from  that 
which  treats  of  the  Old  Testament.  Catholics 
and  Protestants  alike  receive  the  deuterocanonical 
parts  of  the  New  Testament,  their  Canons  being 
identical. 

150.  The  Canon.  How  determined. — We  will  now 
compare  the  principles  on  which  Catholics  and 
Protestants  go  in  determining  the  list  of  Books  that 
they  receive. 

The  Catholic  Canon  is  found  in  the  Decree  on 
the  subject  adopted  in  the  Fourth  Session  of  the 
Council  of  Trent.  This  Decree  gives  the  list  of 
Books  which,  it  says,  have  been  preserved  in  the 
Church,  and  reverenced,  and  treats  this  as  in  itself 
sufficient  reason  for  receiving  them  ;  the  adoption 
and  approbation  of  the  Decree  was  in  itself  proof 
that  in  the  year  1546  this  was  the  list  which  the 
Church  of  the  time  received ;  and  on  the  principles 
explained  in  our  Treatise  on  Tradition,  and  which 
will  be  more  fully  developed  in  the  Treatise  on  the 
Church,  this  consent  is  conclusive  upon  the  point : 
the  Church  cannot  agree  in  error  as  to  a  point  of 
revealed  doctrine. 

The  Protestant  Canon,  as  received  by  almost  all 
the  various  sects,  is  found  in  the  Sixth  of  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion,  which  are  part  of 
the  law  binding  on  members  of  the  Established 
Church  of  England.  It  is  introduced  as  follows: 
"  In  the  name  of  Holy  Scripture  we  do  under- 
stand those  canonical  Books  of  the  Old  and  New 


150]  THE  CANON.    HOW  DETERMINED.  207 

Testament,  of  whose  authority  was  never  any  doubt 
in  the  Church."  Then  after  the  list  of  the  proto- 
canonical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Article 
goes  on :  "  And  other  books,  as  Hierome  saith,  the 
Church  doth  read  for  example  of  life  and  instruction 
of  manners;  but  yet  doth  it  not  apply  them  to 
establish  any  doctrine."  These  are  the  deutero- 
canonical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Then : 
"  All  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament  as  they  are 
commonly  received  we  do  receive  and  account  them 
Canonical."  No  list  is  given. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  Article  sets  up 
different  standards  for  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
In  both  cases  it  rests  on  the  general  acceptance  of 
the  Books  by  the  Church.  This  is  the  true  Catholic 
principle,  but  it  is  totally  inconsistent  with  the 
teaching  of  another  clause  in  the  same  Article, 
which  insists  on  the  sufficiency  of  Scripture  as  the 
Rule  of  Faith.  (Ante,  n.  78.)  In  the  application 
however  of  this  rule  to  the  Old  Testament,  it  is 
required  that  there  should  never  have  been  any 
doubt,  while  for  the  New,  the  actual  consent  of 
the  Church  in  the  year  1571,  when  the  Articles  were 
finally  put  into  their  present  form,  is  held  to  be 
sufficient ;  and  no  account  is  taken  of  the  grave 
doubts  which  once  existed  as  to  the  authority  of  the 
seven  deuterocanonical  Books. 

151.  The  Canon.  When  established. — As  before 
remarked  (n.  148),  we  cannot  attempt  to  give  the 
history  of  the  Canon  in  this  place.  The  first 
authoritative  enumeration  appears  to  have  been 
that  put  forth  by  the  Council  of  Carthage  in  397 


ao8  THE  CANON.  [151 

(Denz.  49),  which  contains  all  the  Books  both 
protocanonical  and  disputed.  This  Council 'was 
not  ecumenical,  but  its  decree  was  accepted  by  the 
Church  at  large,  especially  after  the  decrees  of 
Innocent  I.  and  that  of  Gelasius  in  494.  (Denz.  59, 
139 ;  see  n.  297.)  By  this  time  all  doubt  had  died 
out  of  the  Church,  and  as  regards  the  seven  disputed 
Books  of  the  New  Testament  it  has  never  been 
revived.  To  prove  that  such  doubt  once  existed,  it 
will  be  enough  to  quote  St. Jerome:  "The  Latins 
do  not  commonly  receive  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
as  canonical  Scripture,  and  the  Greeks  similarly 
reject  the  Apocalypse  of  John "  (Epist.  129,  ad 
Dardan,  3;  P.L.  22,  1003),  and  similar  expressions 
are  used  concerning  the  other  five  Books  which  we 
have  mentioned  as  being  disputed.  St.  Jerome 
himself  accepted  these  Books,  and  the  reason  he 
gives  is  worthy  of  attention ;  in  the  passage  just 
quoted  he  goes  on :  "  For  my  part  I  receive  both, 
being  led  to  do  so,  not  by  the  usage  of  the  present 
day,  but  by  the  practice  of  the  ancients."  He 
recognized  that  if  there  had  ever  been  consent  in 
the  Church,  the  fact  that  there  had  at  another  time 
been  doubt  was  of  no  account. 

There  are  other  words  in  this  same  weighty 
passage  which  should  be  noticed.  St.  Jerome  has 
been  saying  that  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  he 
relates  various  opinions,  assigning  St.  Paul,  St. 
Barnabas,  or  St.  Clement  as  the  author ;  but,  says 
St.  Jerome,  it  matters  not  who  is  the  author,  for  he 
is  a  Catholic,  and  his  Book  is  constantly  read  in  the 


I5i]  THE  CANON.     WHEN  ESTABLISHED.  209 

churches.  This  passage  shows  that  St.  Jerome  was 
far  from  regarding  Apostolic  authorship  as  coex- 
tensive with  inspiration ;  thus  giving  the  weight  of 
his  authority  against  one  of  the  theories  current 
among  Protestants. 

152.  The  Old  Testament.— As  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  claim  of  the  protocanonical  Books  is 
established  beyond  a  doubt  by  the  fact  that  far  the 
greater  number  of  them  are  quoted  as  authoritative 
by  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  as  is  shown  by  the 
Table  of  Citations  which  is  to  be  found  in  most 
copies  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  it  is  known 
historically  that  the  whole  collection  was  held  in 
honour  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine  in  the  days  of  our 
Lord,  so  that  no  one  seriously  disputes  the  right  to 
a  place  in  the  canon  of  those  few  Books  which  are 
not  expressly  quoted.  But  as  to  the  deutero- 
canonical  Books  there  is  some  difficulty,  and  we 
must  try  to  explain  how  the  matter  stands. 

These  seven  Books  are  not  found  in  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  as  they  are  preserved  among  the  Jews, 
which  the  Jews  esteem  so  highly  and  preserve  so 
carefully  (n.  132) ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  they  were  known,  or  at  any  rate  held  in  honour 
in  Palestine,  during  the  years  when  our  Lord  was 
preaching  ;  we  may  safely  admit  that  they  may  have 
been  unknown.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  found 
in  the  Greek  version  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  made 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Christ, 
and  said  to  be  the  work  of  Seventy  Interpreters,  and 
hence  called  the  Septuagint :  those  Books  which 
were  written  after  the  date  of  the  version,  being 

0  VOL.  I. 


no  THE  CANON.  [15* 

associated  with  the  rest.  This  Septuagint,  as  it 
now  exists,  containing  the  seven  disputed  Books, 
represents  the  Scriptures  as  they  were  received  by 
those  Jews  who  had  adopted  the  Greek  language 
and  the  centre  of  whose  learning  was  at  Alexandria. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament,  Jews  themselves,  and  in  many 
cases  writing  primarily  for  Jews,  but  writing  in 
Greek,  habitually  used  the  Septuagint  version, 
which  is  the  source  of  three  hundred  out  of  the 
three  hundred  and  fifty  citations  from  the  Old 
Testament  that  are  found  in  the  New ;  and  in 
many  of  the  remaining  fifty  cases  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  the  deviation  from  the  Septuagint  was  rendered 
necessary  by  the  particular  purpose  for  which  the 
citation  was  made.  (See  Michaelis,  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament,  vol.  i.  p.  215.)  It  is  clear,  therefore, 
that  the  Apostles  regarded  the  Septuagint  as  being 
the  standard  Greek  version  of  the  Scriptures. 

From  the  Apostles  the  same  version  passed  to 
the  Christian  Church.  Other  Greek  versions  of 
the  Scriptures  existed,  but  the  Septuagint  was  the 
version  in  common  use,  and  it  naturally  followed 
that  all  the  Books  which  it  contained  were  esteemed 
to  be  Holy  Scripture.  Here  we  have  the  first  stage 
in  the  history  of  the  question  (n.  113) ;  general 
acceptance  undisturbed  by  doubts.  Difficulties,  it 
is  true,  arose ;  for  Christian  disputants  who  engaged 
in  argument  with  Palestinian  Jews  were  surprised 
to  find  that  some  passages  cited  by  them  as  from 
the  Scripture  were  not  acknowledged  to  be  of 
binding  authority.  This  would  occur  as  often  as 


152]  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  ail 

a  passage  was  taken  from  one  of  the  deutero- 
canonical  Books,  for  these  do  not  occur  in  the 
Hebrew  Canon,  which  alone  the  Palestinians  recog- 
nized. It  was  felt  to  be  necessary  to  avoid  rebuffs 
of  this  kind,  and  every  one  who  wished  to  equip 
himself  for  controversy  with  the  Jews  took  pains 
to  ascertain  which  were  the  Books  from  which  he 
might  safely  quote.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
about  the  year  160,  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis  in 
Asia  Minor,  undertook  a  journey  into  Palestine  in 
order  to  learn  what  books  were  received  by  the 
Jews  of  that  country.  It  is  inconceivable  that  he 
undertook  this  labour  as  the  only  means  for  learning 
what  were  the  Christian  Scriptures,  for  as  to  this 
he  could  have  learned  the  tradition  of  his  own 
Church  of  Sardis ;  besides  which,  Palestine  was 
no  longer  a  great  Christian  centre,  and  this  con- 
sideration is  our  guide  in  interpreting  the  letter  in 
which  he  gives  the  result  of  his  investigations :  it  is 
preserved  by  Eusebius.  (Hist.  Eccl.  4,  26  ;  P.G.  5, 
1215,  20,  396 ;  Routh,  Reliq.  Sacr.  i,  120.)  The 
catalogue  which  he  gives  omits  the  deuterocanonical 
Books,  but  it  does  not  undertake  to  show  more  than 
the  list  of  Books  which  the  Jews  acknowledged. 

In  the  course  of  the  third  century,  however, 
doubts  began  to  find  their  way  even  into  the 
Church.  Thus,  not  far  from  the  year  240,  a  man 
of  learning,  named  Africanus,  an  historian,  wrote  to 
Origen,  a  famous  Christian  professor,  to  inquire  as 
to  the  deuterocanonical  part  of  the  Book  of  Daniel 
which  contains  the  history  of  Susannah  and  the 
Elders.  Origen's  reply  sets  forth  clearly  the  way 


THE  CANON.  [152 


in  which  all  such  questions  are  to  be  treated  :  much 

of  what  he  says  applies  to  all  the  deuterocanonical 

Books  of  the  Old  Testament.     The  two  letters  will 

be  found  in  the  works  of  Origen.  (P.G.  II,  41 — 85.) 

The  difficulty  brought  by  Africanus  was   two-fold. 

First,  he  adduces  certain  intrinsic  difficulties  which 

seem  to  him  to  show  that  this  portion  of  the  Book 

cannot  be  Divine ;  and  secondly,  he  argues,  as  of 

most  importance,  that  the  history  is  not  found  in 

the  Daniel  which  is  in  use  among  the  Jews.      In 

modern   language,  Africanus   thinks   that  criticism 

and  antiquity  are  both  against  the  history.     Origen, 

in  his  reply,  takes  the  objections  in  an  inverse  order : 

from  the  alleged  witness  of  antiquity,  he  appeals  to 

the  undeniable  witness  of  the  Church  of  his  own 

day ;    and    having    established    his    point    by    the 

authority  of  tradition,  he  proceeds  with  confidence 

to  deal  with  the  critical  difficulties.     This  is  exactly 

the   Catholic   procedure.      After   adducing   various 

instances  in  which  there  is  a  difference  between  the 

Jewish  and  the  Christian  Scriptures,  he  ventures  to 

speak   ironically  of   his    correspondent's   objection. 

(P.G.  n,  57.)     "  So  then  it  comes  to  this  :  we  must 

make  no  account  of  all  the  copies  that  are  current 

in   the   churches,  and    lay   it   down   as   a    law   to 

Christians  to  do  away  with  their  own  Sacred  Books, 

and  go,  cap  in  hand,  to  the  Jews,  begging  them  to 

share  with  us  their  pure  and  unpolluted  Scriptures. 

Can    it    be,"    he    proceeds,    "that    the    Providence 

which  by  the    Holy  Scripture  gives  edification  to 

all  the  churches  of  Christ   had   no  heed  for  those 

bought  with  a  price,  for  whom  Christ  died  ?  "     It  is 


152]  THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.  213 


plain  that  Origen  made  more  account  in  this  matter 
of  the  living  Church  than  of  dead  antiquity. 

Nevertheless,  this  same  Origen  was  engaged  on 
a  work  which  gave  rise  to  a  controversy  which 
lasted  for  more  than  a  century.  This  was  the  com- 
pilation of  his  Hexapla,  the  Six-fold,  an  immense 
undertaking  in  which  he  exhibited  the  whole  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  in  six  distinct  forms, 
arranged  in  parallel  columns.  Only  fragments  of 
this  great  work  have  survived  :  they  occupy  vols. 
xv.  and  xvi.  of  the  Patres  Greed.  The  first  column 
exhibits  the  Hebrew  text :  the  second  gives  the 
same  in  Greek  letters ;  the  remaining  four  are 
occupied  by  as  many  Greek  versions :  those  of 
the  servilely  literal  Aquilas,  made  about  the  year 
128  after  Christ ;  of  the  Septuagint  (B.C.  250)  ; 
of  Theodotion,  somewhat  earlier  than  176,  founded 
upon  the  preceding,  with  changes  which  were  not 
always  for  the  worse,  so  that  this  version  is  still 
used  in  the  Eastern  Church,  in  place  of  the  Septua- 
gint, for  the  Book  of  Daniel ;  and  lastly,  that  of 
Symmachus,  who  was  somewhat  free  in  his  render- 
ing of  difficult  passages.  (See  Lamy,  Introductio, 
i,  148—154.) 

This  work  became  widely  known,  and  brought 
to  the  minds  of  all  interested  in  the  matter  that  the 
seven  Books  were  not  extant  in  the  Hebrew;  and 
doubts  as  to  their  authority  arose  in  the  minds  of 
many,  who  had  not  Origen's  grasp  of  principles. 
The  extent,  however,  to  which  these  doubts  pre- 
vailed has  been  much  exaggerated,  and  they  seem 
never  to  have  led  to  anything  like  fixed  opinion 


414  THE  CANON.  £151 

against  the  authority  of  these  disputed  Books.  It 
was  felt  that  so  long  as  doubt  existed  these  Books 
could  not  be  used  in  controversy  :  this  is  a  sound 
principle,  and  the  time  of  uncertainty  constituted 
the  second  stage  in  the  history.  A  discussion  of 
the  relevant  passages  will  be  found  in  Comely, 
Introductio,  I,  go — in,  where  it  is  shown  that  the 
difficulty  felt  by  St.  Jerome  himself  was  speculative 
rather  than  practical :  it  was  not  so  much  that  he 
rejected  the  authority  of  the  disputed  Books,  as 
that  he  failed  to  see  how  their  authority  was  to  be 
defended. 

This  period  of  doubt  and  dispute  led  to  the  third 
and  final  stage  of  universal  acquiescence :  the  con- 
sentient voice  of  Christendom  made  itself  heard, 
and  the  Decree  passed  at  Carthage  in  397  being 
universally  accepted,  controversy  was  at  an  end. 
(Ante,  n.  151.) 

153.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
told  what  are  the  Canons  of  Scripture  accepted 
by  the  Catholic  Church  and  by  the  various  sects 
of  Protestants,  and  we  have  shown  what  is  the 
principle  alleged  by  the  supporters  of  each.  We 
have  shown  that  the  Protestant  principle  would 
require  them  to  reject  seven  Books  of  the  New 
Testament  which  they  accept ;  while  the  objections 
which  they  allege  from  antiquity  against  seven 
Books  of  the  Catholic  Old  Testament  Canon  are 
not  conclusive. 


CHAPTER  V. 

VERSIONS  AND   INTERPRETATIONS   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

154.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — The  fundamental 
difference  between  Catholic  theologians  and  the 
expounders  of  the  various  Protestant  systems  is 
found  in  the  view  taken  as  to  the  Rule  of  Faith. 
In  our  second  Treatise  we  showed  that  Catholics 
regard  the  living  voice  of  the  Church  at  all  times  as 
being  the  authentic  interpreter  of  the  Divine  Revela- 
tion, and  that  there  is  no  appeal  from  this  voice ; 
and  that  if  Scripture  or  Antiquity  or  any  other  basis 
of  argument  seem  to  contradict  this  living  voice,  we 
are  at  once  assured  that  there  is  error  either  in  the 
principles  or  in  the  reasoning  founded  on  them. 
The  Protestant  theory,  on  the  other  hand,  holds 
that  the  Written  Word  of  God  is  the  supreme  rule ; 
that  the  revelation  given  by  God  is  to  be  learned  by 
each  Christian  reading  the  Bible  ;  and  that  this 
reading,  conducted  under  proper  conditions,  will  not 
lead  him  astray.  In  the  present  chapter  we  shall 
explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  the  popular 
use  of  Scripture,  and  the  precautions  which  are 
necessary,  if  the  food  provided  for  the  souls  of  men 
is  not  by  misuse  to  be  turned  to  poison. 


2i6  VERSIONS  &•  INTERPRETATIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.[i& 

155.  Translation. — We  have  seen  (n.  120)  that 
various  languages  were  employed  by  the  original 
writers  of  the  Scriptures ;  that  the  original  manu- 
scripts have  perished,  and  that  the  text  as  it  came 
from  their  hands  cannot  be  restored  with  absolute 
certainty  in  every  minutest  detail.  It  follows  at 
once  that  translations  are  necessary  before  the 
Scriptures  can  be  studied  by  the  mass  of  men,  and 
none  but  those  who  have  paid  special  attention  to 
the  matter  can  justly  estimate  the  immense  difficulty 
of  the  work  of  making  such  a  translation.  The 
work  cannot  be  done  even  tolerably  without  a 
familiar  acquaintance  with  the  original  languages 
and  a  perfect  command  over  that  into  which  the 
translation  is  to  be  made.  Also,  no  single  chapter 
can  be  safely  translated  except  by  one  who  has 
familiar  acquaintance  with  the  whole  of  the  Scripture, 
for  otherwise  the  translator  must  be  in  doubt 
whether  he  has  not  missed  some  parallel  passage 
which  is  decisive  of  the  meaning  of  that  on  which  he 
is  engaged  ;  and  we  may  say,  yet  more  widely,  that 
the  translator  of  dogmatic  passages  must  already 
have  his  mind  made  up  as  to  the  true  doctrine  upon 
the  subject ;  he  may  have  derived  his  convictions 
from  his  original  or  from  some  other  source  ;  but 
without  convictions  of  some  sort  he  cannot  translate. 
Only  the  ignorant  can  imagine  that  it  is  possible  to 
produce  any  tolerable  result  by  translating  literally : 
"  word  for  word,"  as  they  would  say.  This  attempt 
was  made  by  the  literal  Aquila,  who  probably  held 
some  form  of  the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration,  and 
felt  bound  to  give  the  exact  Greek  equivalent  for 


I55]  TRANSLATION. 


each  Hebrew  word.  Applied  to  the  first  verse  of 
Genesis  this  theory  would  give  the  result  :  "  In 
heading  created  Gods  with  the  heavens  and  with 
the  earth,"  which  is  not  greater  nonsense  than  the 
specimen  of  Aquila's  handiwork  that  stands  in 
Origen's  Hexapla.  Literal  translation  in  this  sense 
assumes  that  every  language  contains  some  word 
which  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  each  word  in  every 
other  language,  which  is  clearly  false  ;  further,  it 
assumes  that  a  combination  of  words  in  one 
language  yields  the  same  sense  as  the  combination 
Df  the  equivalent  words  in  every  other  language, 
which  is,  if  possible,  still  more  false  ;  as  will  be  seen 
at  once  if  the  attempt  be  made  to  render  on  these 
principles  the  simplest  passage  from  one  language 
into  another.  In  fact,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
every  translation  is  in  truth  a  commentary.  The 
simple  Protestant,  therefore,  adopts  as  his  rule  of 
faith  a  human  work,  while  he  believes  it  to  be 
Divine. 

156.  Imperfect  and  false  renderings.  —  The  diffi- 
culties pointed  out  in  the  preceding  section  are 
inherent  in  the  work  of  the  translation,  but  they 
are  very  much  enhanced  when  the  work  is  under- 
taken by  incompetent  men  ;  and  the  possibility  of 
dogmatic  prejudice  and  downright  fraud  must  always 
be  had  in  mind.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  has  no  difficulty  in  finding  men  who  will 
undertake  to  translate  the  Scriptures  into  any 
language,  however  rude  and  destitute  of  the  most 
elementary  terms  of  religion  ;  and  particulars  as 
to  the  deplorable  result  will  be  found  in  the 


218  VERSIONS  &•  INTERPRETA  77OATS  01-  SCRIPTURE.  [156 

first  chapter  of  Mr.  Marshall's  Christian  Missions. 
What  is  commonly,  and  perhaps  deservedly  re- 
puted as  the  best  of  the  Protestant  vernacular 
translations,  is  that  which  forms  the  authorized 
version  of  the  English  Establishment,  and  which 
was  put  into  its  final  shape  in  the  year  1611. 
In  1870  a  revision  of  this  version  was  begun,  and 
the  result  in  due  time  appeared,  showing  that  a 
vast  number  of  alterations  were  deemed  necessary; 
but  the  way  in  which  the  work  was  done  has  not 
g*  s*en  satisfaction  to  those  interested,  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  a  revision  of  the  revised  version  will 
appear  before  long.  Meanwhile,  the  authorized 
version  holds  the  field.  It  was  with  reference  to 
this  version  that  Mr.  Thomas  Ward  compiled  his 
book  called  Errata,  being  a  long  list  of  passages 
where  the  translators  had  allowed  dogmatic  pre- 
judice to  determine  their  choice  of  phrases ;  while 
cases  are  not  wanting  in  which  words  seem  to  have 
been  deliberately  altered  or  omitted  because  the 
true  version  seemed  too  favourable  to  the  Catholic 
side  of  the  controversy.  Thus  in  Cant.  vi.  8,  both 
the  authorized  and  the  revised  version  insert  a  but, 
without  authority  from  the  Hebrew  original,  thus 
weakening  the  argument  which  sees  in  this  passage 
a  proof  of  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Also,  in 
Malach.  ii.  7,  both  these  versions  read  should,  instead 
of  shall,  making  the  passage  no  longer  point  to  the 
office  of  the  Bishops  and  priests  of  the  Church 
to  be  in  a  special  manner  the  guardians  of  Divine 
Revelation ;  but  the  worst  case  is  I  Cor.  xi.  27,  where 
the  translators  put  and  in  place  of  or,  which  was 


156]          IMPERFECT  AND  FALSE  RENDERINGS.          219 

required  by  all  the  authorities  to  which  they  had 
access.  The  revisors  have  altered  this  and  to  or; 
but  meanwhile  ten  generations  have  read  the  words 
that  falsely  represent  St.  Paul  as  declaring  a  Divine 
command  that  the  Holy  Communion  was  to  be 
received  under  both  kinds.  Another  case  is  seen  in 
Hebrews  xiii.  4. 

157.  The  Church  and  Versions. — The  Church 
regards  the  Written  Word  of  God  as  a  most 
precious  treasure  entrusted  to  her  keeping  by  her 
Divine  Founder,  to  be  used  as  an  instrument  in 
doing  the  work  which  she  is  commissioned  to 
accomplish ;  and  seeing  the  necessity  of  translations 
being  made,  seeing  also  the  difficulty  of  the  task 
and  the  ease  with  which  corruptions  may  be  intro- 
duced, she  sedulously  watches  over  the  production 
of  versions,  especially  in  vernacular  languages. 
She  knows  also  how  difficult  is  the  work  of  inter- 
preting the  Scriptures,  and  that  it  is  no  less  true 
now  than  it  was  in  the  days  of  St.  Peter,  that  the 
unlearned  and  unstable  wrest  the  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul  and  the  other  Scriptures  to  their  own 
destruction.  (2  St.  Peter  iii.  16.)  She  has  therefore 
laid  down  certain  rules  for  the  guidance  of  her 
theologians  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture ;  and 
she  has  legislated  with  regard  to  the  printing  of 
editions  and  versions,  and  their  use  especially  by 
the  laity.  The  Church  herein  proceeds  upon  a 
theory  totally  opposed  to  that  acted  upon  by  the 
supporters  of  Bible  Societies.  The  work  of  these 
Societies  is  to  scatter  printed  copies  of  versions  of 
the  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment,  as  widely 


220     VERSIONS  fr  JNTERPRETAIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [157 

as  possible  in  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  and 
enormous  sums  of  money  are  yearly  expended  upon 
this  enterprise ;  with  how  little  fruit  will  be  seen 
by  the  reader  of  that  first  chapter  of  Marshall's 
Christian  Missions,  which  we  have  already  quoted  in 
the  preceding  section.  Foolish  as  the  proceedings 
of  these  Societies  are,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
promoters  act  consistently  upon  their  theory.  This 
theory,  which  we  have  already  met  with  on  several 
occasions,  holds  that  the  perusal  of  the  Written 
Word  of  God  is  the  divinely  appointed  means  of 
salvation  for  all  men ;  on  this  theory,  to  scatter 
Bibles  is  to  spread  the  Gospel ;  just  as  on  the 
Catholic  theory  that  faith  comes  by  hearing  (Romans 
x.  17),  not  by  reading,  the  way  to  spread  the  Gospel 
is  to  send  preachers  duly  commissioned  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  Apostles.  We  have  already 
sufficiently  discussed  the  two  rival  theories,  in  our 
Treatise  on  the  Channel  of  Doctrine :  but  we  may 
add  a  few  citations  from  some  of  the  earliest 
Fathers,  to  show  how  far  representative  Christians 
about  the  year  200  were  from  holding  the  Bible 
Society  theory.  St.  Irenaeus  speaks  of  the  barbarians 
as  believing  in  Christ  without  the  aid  of  ink  and 
paper  (Contra  Har.  3,  4 ;  P.G.  7,  855) ;  Tertullian 
(De  Prescript.  14;  P.L.  2,  27)  gives  a  solemn 
warning  against  engaging  with  heretics  in  argu- 
ment on  the  sense  of  Scripture ;  and  Clement  of 
Alexandria  (Strom,  i,  20  and  2,  6;  P.G.  8,  816, 
960)  expressly  states  the  Christian  method  is  that 
faith  comes  by  hearing,  which  he  contrasts  with 
that  of  the  Greek  philosophers.  It  will  be  remem- 


i57]  THE  CHURCH  AND    VERSIONS.  221 

bered  that  these  three  writers  represent  the  faith 
and  teaching  of  almost  the  whole  of  the  Christian 
world.  (See  n.  51.) 

158.  The  Vulgate.  —  There  is  one  only  version 
of  the  Scriptures  which  has  received  the  formal 
approval  of  the  Church :  this  is  that  one  among  the 
Latin  versions  which  obtained  general  currency  in 
the  West,  and  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Vulgate, 
or  ordinary  version.  As  to  this,  the  Council  of 
Trent  declared  not  only  that  the  Books  contained 
in  this  version,  with  all  their  parts,  were  inspired ; 
but  also  that  among  all  the  current  Latin  versions 
this  one  was  to  be  held  as  authentic,  and  as  such  was 
used  by  the  Council  in  proving  the  dogmas  of  the 
Church,  and  reforming  morals. 

This  declaration  of  the  Council  (Sess.  4,  Denz. 
666,  667)  is  often  misunderstood.  It  does  not 
imply  the  entire  conformity  of  the  Vulgate  to  the 
originals  ;  and  it  is  perfectly  allowable  to  suppose 
that  the  translator  was  misled  by  false  readings 
in  the  manuscript  that  he  used,  or  that  he 
mistook  the  sense  of  what  was  before  him.  The 
work  of  critically  settling  the  text,  and  of  inter- 
pretation, is  not  interfered  with  by  the  Decree  ;  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  critical  value  of  the  Vulgate 
stands  high,'  but  it  is  not  conclusive.  But  the 
meaning  of  the  declaration  is  this :  that  in  an 
argument  upon  a  question  of  faith  and  morals, 
there  is  no  appeal  from  the  authority  of  the 
Vulgate :  whatever  propositions,  in  these  spheres, 
follow  from  the  Vulgate  are  undoubtedly  true.  It 
may  be  that  the  corresponding  passages  of  the 


222  VERSIONS  &•  INTERPRETATIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [158 

originals  did  not  yield  the  same  sense ;  this  is  a 
question  for  theologians  to  discuss  (n.  84) :  and 
whatever  follows  from  the  original  texts  as  to  faith 
or  morals,  or  any  other  subject,  is  to  be  implicitly 
received  as  the  Word  of  God  to  man  (n.  145) :  but 
it  will  never  be  shown  that  the  teaching  of  the 
Vulgate  on  faith  and  morals  is  in  conflict  with  what 
we  know  on  the  subject  from  the  originals,  or  from 
other  sources  of  knowledge  of  Divine  truth.  On 
other  subjects  the  interpreter  may,  if  he  think  right, 
discard  the  Vulgate,  though  if  he  be  wise  he  will  be 
very  slow  to  do  so.  Thus  the  Council  leaves  him 
free  to  form  his  own  opinion  as  to  the  species  of 
plant  that  sheltered  the  Prophet  Jonas  (Jonas  iv.  6), 
and  he  may  believe  that  it  was  a  kind  of  gourd,  as 
the  current  Hebrew  and  Septuagint  have  it,  and  not 
ivy,  as  in  the  Vulgate :  this  is  a  point  of  botany,  not 
of  faith  or  morals  ;  and  on  such  a  point  we  are  sure 
that  the  teaching  of  the  original  was  correct,  but 
we  have  no  authentic  means  of  determining  what 
that  teaching  was  ;  especially,  it  must  not  be  hastily 
concluded  that  because  the  original  was  written  in 
Hebrew,  therefore  it  is  faithfully  represented  by  the 
Hebrew  which  is  now  current :  it  is  possible  that  a 
casual  mistake  has  crept  into  the  text. 

159.  Interpretation  of  Scripture. — We  have  seen 
according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  the  agreement  of 
Christians  on  any  point  as  having  been  revealed  by 
God  is  decisive  of  the  truth  :  the  whole  Church 
cannot  go  wrong.  It  is,  therefore,  in  perfect  accord 
with  this  doctrine  that  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  the 
same  Session  (Denz.  668).  forbade  all  interpretations 


159]  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  223 

of  Scripture  which  were  opposed  to  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  Fathers.  We  have  seen  (nn.  93 — 95) 
that  in  certain  cases  the  existence  of  this  unanimous 
consent  can  be  inferred,  even  where  few  writers 
have  treated  of  the  matter,  and  we  must  carefully 
distinguish  between  the  witness  of  the  Fathers  to 
the  Tradition  that  they  have  received,  and  their 
judgment  as  critics,  on  points  as  to  which  they  have 
received  no  tradition.  In  the  former  case,  their 
unanimous  voice  is  decisive ;  in  the  latter,  it  is 
possible  for  more  recent  criticism  to  have  discovered 
reasons  for  adopting  a  different  view.  We  may 
illustrate  this  by  the  case  of  the  Days  of  Creation. 
The  Fathers  are  not  unanimous  as  to  what  is  meant 
by  them.  (See  St.  Augustine,  Genesis  ad  Literam, 
4,  27;  P.L.  34,  314;  De  Civil.  Dei,  n,  7;  P.L.  41, 
322.)  But  even  were  it  otherwise,  they  would  have 
spoken  merely  according  to  their  knowledge,  seeing 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  Day  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  had  its  natural  meaning :  if  considerations 
drawn  from  the  teaching  of  geology  or  other  sources 
lead  us  to  doubt  whether  they  were  correct  in  their 
judgment,  we  shall  not  be  going  against  their  witness. 
(See  n.  322.)  The  same  remark  applies  to  the 
passages  of  Scripture  which  have  been  thought  to 
be  opposed  to  the  Copernican  astronomy  (Psalm 
xcii.  I ;  Josue  x.  13,  &c.)  :  it  was  natural  to  take 
them  as  referring  to  absolute  motion,  so  long  as 
no  reason  to  the  contrary  was  seen ;  but  there  was 
no  tradition  on  the  subject ;  and  therefore  there 
was  no  objection  to  understanding  them  of  relative 
motion,  as  soon  as  reason  to  do  so  was  adduced. 


224  VERSIONS  &•  INTERPRETATIONS  OP  SCRIPTURE  [159 

We  shall  speak  again  of  the  case  of  Galileo  in 
another  place  (n.  292) ;  we  here  only  remark  that  no 
unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers,  if  such  existed, 
would  bind  us  to  accept  the  Ptolemaic  hypothesis. 
The  doctrine  on  this  matter  is  given  shortly,  but 
quite  clearly,  in  the  Encyclical  lately  quoted, 
(n.  145.) 

160.  The  use  of  Versions. — The  Church,  aware 
of  the  evil  that  is  apt  to  result  from  the  rash  use  of 
Scripture,  especially  of  versions  in  the  vernacular, 
has  guarded  it  by  various  regulations.  We  can 
do  no  more  than  give  a  very  short  sketch  of  the 
Common  Law  upon  the  subject,  which  law,  how- 
ever, is  by  no  means  necessarily  binding  in  any 
particular  country :  modifications  to  suit  the  vary- 
ing circumstances  of  the  populations  have  frequently 
been  introduced  by  custom  or  otherwise.  The 
Common  Law,  however,  forbids  the  use  of  all 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  that  have  not  been  printed 
under  the  responsibility  of  some  Catholic  :  no  trans- 
lations into  the  vernacular  are  to  be  made  unless 
accompanied  by  proper  notes,  to  guard  against  the 
danger  of  misunderstanding;  and  they  must  not  be 
printed  without  the  approbation  of  the  Ordinary. 
These  rules  are  the  more  necessary  because  the 
Bible  Societies  sometimes  print  editions  of  their 
own,  founded  on  former  editions  which  had  received 
approval :  they  retain  the  approbations,  but  omit 
the  notes,  and  often  corrupt  the  text,  in  this  way 
endeavouring  to  mislead  the  unwary.  An  episcopal 
approbation  does  no  more  than  allow  the  printing 
of  the  work  :  it  by  no  means  implies  that  the  prelate 


i6o)  THE  USE  OP  VERSIONS.  225 

giving  the  approval  agrees  with  all  that  is  said : 
in  fact,  the  person  that  gives  the  approval  will 
sometimes  see  reason  subsequently  to  withdraw  it. 

The  essential  opposition  between  the  Catholic 
spirit  and  the  spirit  of  Jansenism  comes  out  clearly 
in  the  condemnation  by  Pope  Clement  XL,  in  the 
Bull  Unigenitus  (1713),  of  the  following  propositions 
taught  by  Quesnel : 

LXXIX.  To  study  and  know  the  spirit,  piety, 
and  mysteries  of  Holy  Scripture  is  at  all  times  and 
in  all  places  necessary  to  all  sorts  of  men. 

LXXX.  The  reading  of  Holy  Scripture  is  for  all. 

LXXXI.  The  obscurity  of  Holy  Scripture  is 
no  reason  for  laymen  dispensing  themselves  from 
reading  it. 

With  much  more  to  the  same  effect.  (Denz. 
1294—1300.) 

It  may  be  suspected  that  many  of  those  who 
advocate  the  indiscriminate  reading  of  the  Bible 
are  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  contents 
of  some  of  the  Books :  and  they  fail  to  observe  that 
not  a  single  text  can  be  cited  so  much  as  hinting, 
that  Christians  ought  to  look  to  a  book  to  find  the 
doctrines  of  their  religion :  all  the  texts  commonly 
cited  refer  to  Jews,  who  are  exhorted  to  search  the 
Old  Testament,  where  they  will  find  proof  that  He 
Whom  the  Apostles  preached  was  the  true  Messiah ; 
but  when  that  is  clear,  they  are  to  receive  His 
doctrine  from  the  mouth  of  His  messengers.  (See 
n.  83.) 

161.  Recapitulation. — Having  in  our  first  and 
second  Treatises  spoken  of  the  Christian  religion 

P  VOL.  I. 


aa6  VERSIONS  *  INTERPRETATIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  [161 

and  its  evidences,  and  the  Channel  of  Doctrine,  our 
third  Treatise  has  been  devoted  to  Holy  Scripture. 
In  successive  chapters  we  have  spoken  of  the 
meaning  of  Scripture,  of  the  special  character  of 
the  Books,  and  their  Inspiration  ;  after  which  we 
have  determined  what  Books  form  the  collection. 
Lastly,  we  have  explained  the  necessity  of  having 
translations  of  the  Scripture,  and  pointed  out  why 
the  task  of  furnishing  them  is  so  difficult,  and  shown 
that  the  work  has  often  been  done  with  negligence, 
prejudice,  and  even  fraud.  The  attitude  of  the 
Church  towards  versions  is  then  explained  and 
justified,  the  special  position  of  the  Vulgate  is 
explained,  together  with  the  caution  to  be  observed 
in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Lastly,  we 
have  sketched  the  Common  Law  as  to  the  trans- 
lating, printing,  and  reading  Scripture. 


{Treatise  tbe  fourtb. 
THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EXISTENCE   OF  THE    CHURCH. 

162.  Plan  of  Treatise. — Already,  more  than  once, 
we  have  mentioned  the  Church,  and  have  assumed 
the  existence  of  the  institution  which  goes  by  this 
name.  In  the  present  Treatise  we  propose  to 
explain  what  is  meant  by  the  Christian  Church  ; 
to  give  proof  of  its  existence  at  the  present  day  and 
for  all  time  to  come ;  to  discuss  its  nature,  when  it 
will  be  shown  to  be  a  visible,  organized  society ;  to 
show  who  are  its  members,  what  powers  and 
privileges  the  society  has,  and  how  they  are 
exercised ;  and  to  prove  that  it  possesses  certain 
properties  which  admit  of  being  recognized,  and 
thus  become  notes  by  which  it  may  be  distinguished 
from  all  other  associations  of  Christians. 

In  the  following  Treatise  we  shall  discuss  the 
question  of  the  position  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  in 
the  Church,  for  it  will  be  shown  that  his  position 
is  unique ;  and  this  Treatise  will  complete  the 


•a8  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [162 

preliminary  part  of  our  Theology,  sometimes  called 
Fundamental  Theology.  Although,  as  just  now 
remarked,  in  the  course  of  our  second  and  third 
Treatises  we  occasionally  assumed  the  existence  of 
the  Church,  thus  anticipating  a  part  of  the  fourth 
Treatise  ;  yet  it  will  be  found  that  the  Fundamental 
Theology  is  complete  in  itself,  except  so  far  as  it 
assumes  the  existence  of  God  ;  the  proof  of  which 
truly  primary  verity  must  be  sought  in  Philosophy 
with  such  helps  as  Revelation  affords,  and  which 
will  form  the  subject  of  a  subsequent  Treatise. 

In  the  present  Treatise  we  shall  assume  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  a  fount 
of  doctrine  acknowledged  by  all  Christians ;  and  we 
shall  not  have  occasion  to  use  passages  taken  from 
the  Books  the  authority  of  which  is  disputed.  We 
shall  adduce  passages  from  the  Fathers  to  show 
that  our  doctrine  is  not  new ;  and  we  shall  draw 
something  from  theological  reason,  to  illustrate  the 
matter. 

163.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we 
shall  explain  what  is  meant  in  Christian  language 
by  the  Church ;  and  we  shall  show  that  the 
institution  denoted  by  this  name  was  brought  into 
existence  by  Christ,  that  it  has  ever  existed,  still 
exists,  and  will  exist  till  the  end  of  time ;  and  that 
it  is  of  such  nature  that  membership  is  constituted 
by  something  which  is  in  its  own  nature  external, 
and  does  not  depend  purely  on  anything  interior ; 
in  other  words,  we  shall  prove  that  the  Church  is 
perennial  and  visible.  This  chapter  is  of  vital 
importance  in  the  controversy  with  Rationalists 


x63]  SUBJECT  OP  THE  CHAPTER.  tag 

and  Protestants.  It  is  closely  connected  with  the 
Treatise  on  Tradition,  for  we  saw  that  the  Church 
is  the  divinely  appointed  guardian  of  the  Tradition 
of  the  faith,  which  must  therefore  be  received  from 
the  Church ;  but  this  is  impossible  unless  the  Church 
exists  at  all  times  and  exists  in  such  a  way  that  it 
can  be  discovered. 

164.  Meaning  of  "Church."— The  word  "Church" 
is  not  one  the  derivation  of  which  throws  light  upon 
the  meaning.  It  seems  to  be  a  changed  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  Greek  Kvpiaxov — "  belonging  to  the 
Lord," — and  in  its  earliest  use  it  signified  a  building 
set  apart  for  Christian  worship.  So  at  least  it  is 
explained  by  Mr.  Skeat.  (Etymological  Dictionary,  s.v.) 
However  this  may  be,  in  its  present  use  it  corres- 
ponds to  the  Greek  eKK\i]<rta ;  a  word  which,  with 
various  changes  of  spelling,  is  found  in  almost  all 
the  languages  of  Christendom,  except  those  which, 
like  the  English,  employ  forms  of  tcvpiaieov.  (Scotch 
kirk,  German  kirche ;  on  the  other  hand,  French 
eglise,  Italian  chiesa,  Welsh  eglwys,  &c.)  The  Latin 
form  is  ecclesia. 

In  classical  usage,  the  €KK\ija-la  specially  signifies 
an  officially  summoned  assembly,  as  of  citizens 
engaged  on  political  business  (see  Liddell  and 
Scott,  s.v.) ;  the  derivation  being  from  e/c  and  tca\ea), 
to  call  out,  select.  The  word  is  used  in  this  sense 
in  the  Septuagint  (i  Paral.  xxix.  I ;  cf.  xxviii.  i)  ; 
and  possibly  in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  xix.  32, 
40),  though  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  crowd  at 
Ephesus  was  an  informal  gathering.  (Cf.  v.  39.)  In 
Ecclus.  xv.  5,  and  elsewhere,  it  is  used  of  a  social 


ay>  EXISTENCE  OP  THE  CHURCH.  [164 

gathering.  But  the  ordinary  use  in  the  Old 
Testament  refers  to  meetings  for  religious  purposes, 
or  to  the  place  of  such  meetings.  (See  Deut.  xviii.  16, 
xxiii.  I — 3  ;  Psalm  xxi.  23,  in  which  senses,  however, 
the  common  word  is  a-wcvycoyij,  Exodus  xvi.  3,  xxxiv. 
22,  &c.)  In  the  New  Testament  this  word  occurs 
frequently,  being  once  used  of  a  Christian  place 
of  meeting  (St.  James  ii.  2),  and  once  or  twice 
of  an  assembly  of  the  Jews  (Acts  vi.  9,  xiii.  43), 
but  in  the  great  bulk  of  cases,  it  plainly  means  the 
building  where  the  Jews  met-  for  religious  and  other 
purposes.  (Also  called  Trpoo-evxtf,  Acts  xvi.  13,  16 ; 
see  also  Juvenal  3.  296.)  In  St.  Luke  vi.  12,  we 
read  that  our  Lord  passed  the  night  ev  ry  trpoa-ev^ 
rov  0eoO,  which  the  Vulgate  understands  of  prayer 
to  God.  The  word  has  also  been  understood  of 
some  building  used  for  prayer.  The  one  sense  does 
not  exclude  the  other;  we  should  understand  that 
a  night  passed  "  in  the  chapel "  on  the  eve  of  some 
eventful  day,  had  been  passed  "  in  prayer."  On 
the  other  hand,  the  word  eKtc\r}<r(a  in  the  New 
Testament  is  almost  always  used  of  a  collection  of 
believers  in  Christ,  the  only  exceptions  being  the 
passages  from  Acts  xix.,  referring  to  the  multitude 
who  were  so  zealous  for  the  honour  of  the  patron 
goddess  of  Ephesus;  and  two  quotations  from  the 
Old  Testament.  (Acts  vii.  38;  Hebrews  ii.  12.) 
It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  word  ccclcsia  passed  into 
Latin,  and  so  many  other  languages;  and  this  is 
also  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  words  church  and  the 
like:  the  context  will  always  show  whether  the 
place  is  meant,  or  the  congregation  who  are  united 


OP  "CtiURCH."  «3i 


by  the  bond  of  acknowledging  the  teaching  of 
Christ  ;  the  former  sense  is  the  primary  with  church, 
the  latter  with  ecclesia.  (See  Suicer,  Thesaurus,  s.v. 

KVpldKOV.) 

165.  Church  and  Churches.  —  If  we  study  in  the 
Concordance  the  list  of  passages  where  the  word 
Church  occurs,  we  should  find  that  not  unfrequently 
it  is  used  in  the  plural  (Acts  xv.  41  ;  I  Cor.  vii.  17  ; 
Apoc.  i.  4,  &c.)  ;  and  often  even  when  it  is  in  the 
singular,  the  sense  is  clearly  such  as  implies  that 
the  plural  is  possible  ;  as  in  Acts  viii.  I,  "  the 
church  that  was  at  Jerusalem,"  implies  that  there 
might  be  churches  in  other  places  ;  if  in  Romans 
xvi.  5,  we  read  of  "  the  church  "  which  was  in  the 
house  of  Prisca  arui  Aquila,  we  may  suppose  that 
there  were  "  churches  "  in  other  pious  families  ; 
see  also  i  Cor.  iv.  17;  Apoc.  ii.  i,  &c.  In  these 
places  where  the  word  "  church  "  is  used  to  denote 
what  is  actually  or  potentially  multiple,  the  thing 
meant  clearly  is  a  body  of  believers  in  Christ  among 
whom  some  local  bond  of  connection  existed,  pro- 
bably that  of  assembling  for  prayer  and  instruction 
in  the  same  room.  Thus  when  "the  church"  is 
mentioned  in  Acts  xii.  i,  there  is  no  local  reference, 
for  the  scene  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter 
is  laid  at  Antioch,  while  the  events  of  c.  xii. 
occurred  at  Jerusalem.  In  Romans  xvi.  23,  the 
Vulgate  tells  us  that  Caius,  the  host  of  Paul,  and 
"  all  the  church,"  saluted  the  Romans,  which  words 
must  perhaps  be  understood  of  the  church  in  his 
house,  but  the  Greek  text  makes  Caius,  host  of 
Paul,  and  of  the  whole  church  ;  which  can  scarcely 


18*  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [163 

be  understood  of  the  local  church,  for  he  would  not 
be  called  the  host  of  his  own  townspeople ;  it  would 
seem  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  all  comers, 
provided  they  were  Christians,  members  of  the  one 
Church.  A  yet  plainer  place  is  Ephes.  v.  25, 
"Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  delivered  Himself 
up  for  it  that  He  might  sanctify  it,"  which  certainly 
is  not  said  of  the  Ephesian  Christians  alone.  Other 
like  passages  may  be  found  in  the  Concordance  ; 
but  the  principal  of  all  is  St.  Matt.  xvi.  18,  where 
Christ  says  :  On  this  Rock  I  will  build  My  Church. 
We  shall  meet  with  this  verse  in  more  than  one 
place  of  this  and  the  subsequent  Treatise  ;  at 
present  it  is  enough  to  point  out  that  it  plainly 
implies  the  existence  of  one  institution  which  is 
spoken  of  as  the  Church  of  Christ.  See  also 
St.  Matt,  xviii.  17. 

No  explanation  of  these  passages  can  be  suggested 
except  that  according  to  which  the  multitude  of 
believers  throughout  the  world  were  united  together 
and  formed  one  body,  in  virtue  of  some  bond  of 
union  which  was  not  local,  but  of  a  different 
nature ;  concerning  which  we  shall  inquire  later. 

This  double  use  of  the  word  church  passed  into 
the  ordinary  language  of  Christendom.  According 
to  Catholic  doctrine  every  Christian  is  a  member  of 
the  unique  Church,  and  is  also,  regularly,  a  member 
of  some  smaller  body,  such  as  those  which  we  speak 
of  as  the  Church  of  Africa,  the"  French  Church,  the 
English  Church ;  each  of  these  being  made  up  of 
several  still  smaller  divisions  to  which  the  name  of 
church  is  given  ;  as  when,  on  the  anniversary  of  the 


165]  CHURCH  AND  CHURCHES.  233 

consecration  of  a  Bishop,  we  pray  for  him  as  pre- 
siding over  the  church  of  such  and  such  a  city, 
naming  his  see :  this  being  the  phrase  used  in  the 
prayer  said  on  that  day  in  all  Masses  within  the 
diocese.  While  Catholic  usage  speaks  of  the  Church 
of  each  episcopal  see,  and  of  national  Churches, 
which  are  groups  of  episcopal  Churches,  united  by 
a  local  or  political  bond,  it  never  loses  sight  of  the 
existence  of  the  one  Church  to  which  all  Christians 
belong,  and  which  is  called  the  Catholic  Church,  or 
the  Church  of  God;  this  is  mentioned  in  the 
Collect  used  on  the  anniversary  of  the  coronation 
of  the  reigning  Pope,  who,  as  we  shall  see,  presides 
over  all  particular  Churches  and  over  all  their 
members. 

The  usage  of  many  sects  of  Protestants  gives  the 
name  of  church  to  the  people  who  worship  in  a 
particular  building,  or  even  confine  it  to  a  select 
few  among  them,  who  alone  are  admitted  to  Com- 
munion and  to  a  share  in  government.  There  does 
not  seem  to  be  any  particular  harm  in  this  mode  of 
speech,  which  however  is  not  supported  by  those 
passages  of  Scripture,  such  as  Romans  xvi.  5,  which 
speak  of  what  we  may  call  "  family  churches,"  for 
these  passages  afford  no  indication  of  church- 
membership  even  in  its  strictest  sense,  being  con- 
fined to  select  members  of  the  family ;  see  Acts  xvi. 
33,  where  the  gaoler  "  and  all  his  house "  were 
admitted  to  Baptism.  But,  however  this  may  be, 
the  important  point  is  to  distinguish  between  the 
one  Church  of  God,  Church  of  Christ,  Catholic 
Church,  and  those  congregations  of  Christians 


•34  EXISTENCE  OP  THE  CHURCtt. 

which  participate  in  the  name  of  Church;  the 
prerogatives  that  belong  to  the  one,  and  the  associa- 
tions attaching  to  its  name,  are  not  the  portion  of 
the  others,  except  so  far  as  their  members  are 
children  of  the  one  great  Mother.  This  very 
important  point  is  developed  when  we  speak  of  the 
unity  of  the  Church. 

1 66.  The  Church  Perennial.  —  We  have  now 
explained  what  we  mean  by  the  Church  :  it  is  the 
company  of  believers  in  Christ.  We  have  now  to 
show  that  this  Church  is  perennial :  that  is  to  say, 
that  from  the  days  of  Christ  down  to  the  present 
day  there  have  always  been  men  who  hold  the 
doctrine  that  Christ  taught,  and  that  there  never 
will  come  a  time  when  this  doctrine  will  wholly 
disappear  from  the  earth  :  in  other  words,  not  only 
that  Christ  will  never  be  forgotten,  but  also  that 
His  doctrine  will  never  be  lost  through  corruption. 
This  perennial  existence  has  been  denied  to  the 
Church  by  two  classes  of  heretical  sects.  Some 
have  held  that  the  truth  had  perished  at  some  point 
of  time  which  is  generally  left  undefined,  and  that 
they  were  raised  up  to  restore  it  to  its  primitive 
purity:  others  hold  that  the  original  doctrine  of 
Christ  was  imperfect,  that  it  has  been  improved  as 
time  went  on,  so  that  a  return  to  the  primitive 
doctrine  would  be  a  retrogade  step.  Heretics  of 
the  first  class  more  commonly  maintain  that  the 
truth  was  always  held  by  some  obscure  handful  of 
men,  even  in  the  worst  times,  and  they  are  most 
conveniently  dealt  with  when  we  prove  that  the 
perennial  Church  is  essentially  visible.  The  second 


166]  THE  CHURCH  PERENNIAL.  935 

class  who  hold  that  human  reason,  and  the  progress 
of  civilization,  have  improved  upon  the  original 
revelation  can  hardly  be  called  Christians,  although 
many  of  them  would  claim  the  name.  Such  are 
some  of  those  who  take  the  name  of  Unitarians,  as 
holding  the  unity  of  person  in  God ;  these  do  not 
use  Baptism  in  the  Name  of  the  Blessed  Trinity, 
which  as  we  shall  see  in  its  place  is  required  for 
membership  of  the  Church.  Their  position  is 
scarcely  different  from  that  of  avowed  Rationalists, 
who  regard  Christ  as  not  being  a  Messenger  from 
God,  except  so  far  as  being  a  man  of  higher  moral 
enlightenment  than  most  of  His  contemporaries. 

That  the  Church  is  perennial  is  defined  doctrine, 
contained  in  the  Creed  as  it  is  recited  in  the  Mass : 
"  Of  His  kingdom  shall  be  no  end ; "  the  phrase 
being  taken  from  the  words  of  the  Angel  of  the 
Annunciation  (St.  Luke  i.  33),  who  speaks  of  the 
reign  of  the  Son  of  the  Most  High  in  the  house 
of  Jacob,  the  Church  on  earth.  A  teacher  cannot 
be  said  to  reign  when  his  teaching  is  universally 
abandoned.  This  Creed  is  that  which  was  adopted 
at  the  Council  of  Constantinople  in  381,  except  that 
the  one  word  Filioque  was  added  to  it  by  Papal 
authority.  It  is  an  enlargement  of  the  Creed  of 
Nice  (325),  which  ended  with  the  words,  "And  in 
the  Holy  Ghost."  The  phrase  with  which  we  are 
now  concerned  is  not  found  in  the  Nicene  form,  but 
it  was  introduced  by  a  Council  held  at  Laodicea  in 
341,  when  Marcellus  of  Ancyra  was  condemned. 
(See  S.  Athanas.  De  Synodis,  n.  22;  P.G.  26,  721.) 
The  form  here  adopted  was,  "  Who  remains  King 


236  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [166 

and  God  for  ever,"  which  is  substantially  the  same 
as  that  adopted  forty  years  afterwards  at  Constanti- 
nople. The  precise  purpose  of  the  addition  made 
at  Laodicea  is  unknown,  for  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  any  particular  connection  with  the  Sabelliai? 
error  of  which  Marcellus,the  friend  of  St.  Athanasius, 
was  accused. 

167.  Proof  of  Perennity.  —  That  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  perennial  follows  from  the  prophecies 
contained  in  the  Old  Testament  to  this  effect : 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  cite  Ezech.  xxxvii.  24 — 28, 
which  passage  admits  of  no  explanation  except 
that  which  we  give  it,  in  view  of  the  palpable 
fact  that  the  Jewish  temporal  polity  has  been 
overthrown.  The  same  follows  from  the  pro- 
phecy of  the  Angel  Gabriel  (St.  Luke  i.  33),  who 
assures  our  Lady  that  there  should  be  no  end  to 
the  Kingdom  of  her  Son.  The  promise  of  our  Lord 
that  the  gates  of  Hell  should  not  prevail  against 
the  Church  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  18)  proves  the  same :  as 
does  the  other  promise  that  He  would  be  with  the 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  "  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world."  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.)  It  will  be 
sufficient  to  cite  one  Patristic  passage :  more  will 
be  found  when  we  speak  of  Visibility.  That  which 
we  now  choose  is  the  close  of  St.  Jerome's  com- 
mentary on  Amos :  "  As  long  as  the  world  shall  last, 
persecution  may  shake  the  Church,  but  shall  never 
overthrow  it :  the  strength  of  the  Church  shall  be 
tested,  and  shall  abide  the  test.  This  will  be  so, 
because  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent,  Who  is  the 
Lord  God  of  the  Church,  has  promised  that  so  it 


167]  PROOF  OF  PERENNITY.  237 

shall  be :  and  His  promise  is  an  unchanging  law." 
(P.L.  25,  1096.) 

The  means  by  which  Divine  Providence  secures 
this  lasting  firmness  is  to  inspire  Christians  with 
a  jealousy  of  novelty.  We  have  seen  how  keen 
was  this  jealousy  (n.  99) ;  and  it  is  especially  to  be 
observed  that  general  corruption  of  doctrine  could 
not  result  from  error  being  introduced  in  several 
places  independently,  for  these  partial  corruptions 
could  never  lead  to  general  agreement  in  the  same 
error,  whereas  we  know  that  the  same  doctrine  is 
held  throughout  the  world. 

The  Christian  religion  being  founded  on  a  Divine 
Revelation,  nothing  short  of  a  similar  revelation 
could  supersede  it.  But  we  have  seen  (n.  112)  that 
no  such  revelation  is  to  be  expected  :  and  it  is  this 
that  distinguishes  the  case  of  the  Church  from  that 
of  the  Synagogue.  We  have  distinct  assurance 
that  the  Christian  Revelation  is  final  (Hebrews 
xii.  26,  &c.),  but  we  have  no  similar  revelation  in 
regard  to  the  Jewish  economy.  It  is  true  that 
phrases  are'  found  which  taken  by  themselves,  and 
without  reference  to  the  actual  course  of  events, 
might  seem  to  promise  perpetuity  to  the  Synagogue. 
(3  Kings  ix.  3,  &c.)  But  these  promises  were  not 
falsified  when  the  new  revelation  came,  as  had 
been  foretold  (Deut.  xviii.  15),  and  substituted  for 
the  Old  a  New  Covenant  (Jerem.  xxxi.  31),  which 
perfected  that  which  had  gone  before. 

168.  The  Church  Visible. — It  remains  for  us  to 
show  that  the  Church  is  perennially  visible.  For  a 
society  of  men  to  be  visible,  in  the  sense  in  which 


t38  EXISTENCE  OP  THE  CHURCH.  [168 

the  word  is  used  in  Theology,  it  is  not  enough  that 
the  individuals  composing  it  should  be  visible,  in 
the  sense  in  which  all  men  are  capable  of  being 
seen  ;  but  the  fact  of  their  being  associated  must  be 
visible  :  that  is  to  say,  the  bond  of  union  among 
them  must  be  of  its  own  nature  cognoscible  by 
the  senses,  and  it  must  be  of  such  magnitude  as 
to  attract  attention  to  itself. 

There  are  two  theories  current  among  Pro- 
testants in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  that  the 
Church  is  always  essentially  visible.  One  boldly 
declares  that  no  visibility  whatever  is  required,  and 
that  Church  membership  is  purely  internal :  th6 
other  is  forced  by  the  plain  teaching  of  Scripture 
to  admit  that  in  some  sense  the  Church  must  be 
visible,  but  holds  that  it  need  not  be  conspicuous : 
according  to  this  view  it  suffices  if  there  have  always 
been  some  true  professors  to  be  found  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Its  adherents,  therefore,  labour  to 
show  that  in  all  ages  there  have  been  sects  which 
maintained  pure  Scriptural  religion,  even  during  the 
twelve  centuries  during  which  the  whole  world  was 
"  plunged  in  damnable  idolatry,"  as  the  Church  of 
England  Homily  expresses  it :  when,  in  the  words 
of  Milton,  "  all  our  fathers  worshipt  stocks  and 
stones:"  and  since  it  is  true  that  there  always  have 
been  heresies  rife  in  one  place  or  another,  about 
which  very  little  is  known,  the  work  has  been  done 
to  the  satisfaction  of  its  doers  :  forgery  having 
been  used  to  eke  out  the  scanty  records  of  history. 
(See  Bradshaw,  Collected  Papers,  p.  8.)  The  truth 
is  that  the  sects  in  question  under  various  names — 


i68]  THE  CHURCH   VISIBLE.  t& 

Albigenses,  Waldenses,  Cathari,  &c. — maintained  a 
tradition  of  Manichean  doctrine,  maintaining  the 
essentially  evil  character  of  matter  ;  a  doctrine 
which,  whatever  is  to  be  said  about  it,  is  certainly 
not  Scriptural,  and  from  which  in  many  instances 
consequences  were  deduced  subversive  of  morality 
and  social  life. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  word  "  visible  "  has 
been  applied  to  the  Church  in  any  binding  utter- 
ance ;  but  the  doctrine  that  the  Church  is  visible  is 
implied  whenever  the  Church  urges  the  duty  of 
submission  to  her  teaching,  for  there  can  be  no 
duty  of  submitting  to  an  invisible  body;  and  the 
contrary  doctrine  was  condemned  by  Pope  John 
XXII.  in  1318.  The  Pontiff,  by  his  Bull  Sancta 
Romano,  et  Universalis  Ecchsia,  enumerates  and  con- 
demns five  errors  which  were  maintained  by  one 
section  of  that  miscellaneous  collection  of  zealots, 
some  of  them  Catholic,  and  some  heretical,  who 
went  by  the  name  of  Fraticelli.  The  fifth  and  last 
of  these  errors  is  (Denzinger,  417)  that  the  Gospel 
had  not  received  its  full  perfection  before  their  time, 
but  had  been  prostrate  and  even  extinct.  Also, 
Pope  Pius  VI.,  by  his  famous  Constitution  Auctorem 
Fidei  (August  28,  1794),  condemned  as  heretical  the 
assertion  that  in  these  last  times  religious  truths  of 
the  greatest  moment  had  become  obscured.  (Art.  i. 
Denz.  1364.)  These  condemnations  leave  no  doubt 
that  the  perpetual  visibility  of  the  Church  is  an 
article  of  the  Catholic  Faith. 

169.  Proofs  of  Visibility.  —  The  proof  of  this 
doctrine  from  Scripture  is  easy :  it  follows  from 


HO  EXISTENCE  OP  THE  CHURCH.  [169 

well-nigh  every  place  where  the  Church  is  men- 
tioned. Thus  in  the  Old  Testament,  Isaias  (ii.  2) 
tells  us  that  in  the  last  days,  the  days  of  Christ 
(Acts  ii.  17  ;  Hebrews  i.  2),  the  .  mountain  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  should  be  prepared  on  the  top  of 
the  mountains,  and  all  nations  should  flow  into  it ; 
and  many  people  should  go  to  it,  for  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  should  come  from  Jerusalem. 

This  passage  admits  of  no  interpretation,  except 
that  which  makes  it  ascribe  visibility  to  the  Gospel 
dispensation.  The  mountain  of  the  Lord  was  to 
be  so  placed  as  to  be  visible,  and  there  could  be  no 
doubt  whether  a  given  person  dwelt  there  or  not. 
Nearly  the  same  is  read  in  the  parallel  passage  of 
Micheas  iv.  I.  Moreover,  whatever  doubt  there 
may  be  as  to  the  details  of  the  interpretation  of  the 
vision  of  the  four  kingdoms  in  the  second  chapter 
of  Daniel,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  kingdom 
which  the  God  of  Heaven  should  set  up,  and  which 
should  consume  all  those  kingdoms,  and  itself  stand 
for  ever,  is  the  Church  of  Christ.  Yet  the  terms  in 
which  it  is  described  plainly  point  to  visibility. 
The  New  Testament  is  yet  more  clear.  "  The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew,  is  likened  to  many  various  objects, 
most  of  which  obviously  teach  the  same  lesson  ; 
and  we  read  in  St.  Matt.  v.  14,  15,  that  the  city 
seated  on  a  mountain  cannot  be  hid  ;  and  that  the 
lighted  candle  is  set  on  a  candlestick,  to  give  light 
to  all  that  are  in  the  house  :  a  most  expressive  mode 
of  saying  that  the  Gospel  was  to  be  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  all  the  world,  which  cannot  be,  unless 


169]  PROOFS  OF  VISIBILITY.  241 

the  association  of  believers  were  "visible."  It  is 
needless  to  multiply  these  references. 

The  testimonies  of  the  Fathers  on  the  subject 
will  be  found  in  Waterworth's  Faith  of  Catholics,  i. 
189 — igg.  They  are  too  long  for  transcription  in 
this  place.  We  can  do  no  more  than  quote  one  or 
two  plain  sentences :  "  It  is  an  easier  thing  for  the 
sun  to  be  quenched  than  for  the  Church  to  be  made 
invisible,"  says  St.  Chrysostom.  (In  Oziam,  Horn.  4, 
n.  2;  P;G.  56,  122.)  And  St.  Augustine  tells  us 
that  the  Church  has  this  sure  mark,  that  it  cannot 
be  hid :  for  this  reason  it  is  known  to  all  nations, 
but  the  party  of  Donatus  is  unknown  to  most ;  this 
party  therefore  is  not  the  Church.  (Contra  lift. 
Petiliani,  lib.  2,  cap.  109,  n.  239,  ad  fin. ;  P.L. 
43»  343-)  This  holy  Doctor  repeatedly  employs 
the  argument  drawn  from  visibility  against  the 
Donatists,  who  ventured  to  maintain  that  the  whole 
world  except  themselves  had  fallen  into  error,  so 
that  the  true  faith  was  confined  to  the  corner  of 
Africa  where  they  dwelt.  (Epist.  44,  to  Eleusius; 
P.L.  33,  175;  Epist.  208,  to  Felicia;  P.L.  33,  952.) 

The  visibility  of  the  Church  is  necessarily 
implied  in  the  right  of  governing  her  subjects  which, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  Church  has  (St.  Matt,  xviii.  17, 
&c.),  and  in  the  duty  incumbent  on  all  men  to 
submit  to  the  Church,  as  will  be  explained  here- 
after, (i  St.  Peter  iii.  21.)  An  invisible  association 
could  not  fulfil  the  function  of  making  disciples 
of  all  nations  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19),  nor  could  it 
be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  (i  Timothy 
iii.  ISO 

Q  VOL.  I. 


*4i  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  CHURCH  [tfo 

170.  Difficulties  against  Visibility. — The  difficulties 
that  may  be  raised  against  the  visibility  of  the 
Church  fall  into  three  classes.  Some  are  such  as 
may  be  directed  against  the  visibility  of  any  human 
society,  the  English  nation,  for  example.  There 
may  be  doubts  as  to  when  this  nation  first  became 
conspicuous  in  the  world,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  is  conspicuous ;  and  there  may  be  doubts  as  to 
what  precisely  constitutes  English  nationality,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  large  mass  of  men  possess 
this  nationality.  What  is  here  said  of  a  nation  is 
true  also  of  the  Church.  Other  objections  proceed 
upon  the  ground  that  the  cluster  of  spiritual  gifts 
that  make  up  what  we  call  the  state  of  grace  are 
interior  and  invisible,  and  yet  without  them  there 
is  no  effective  membership  of  the  Church,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  who  are  members  and  who 
are  not  so.  All  this  is  true,  if  we  speak  of  perfect 
membership;  but  we  shall  show  before  long  (n.  186), 
that  there  is  an  imperfect  membership  for  which 
these  graces  are  not  requisite,  but  which  is  secured 
and  indicated  by  outward  signs ;  also,  the  state  of 
grace  will  tend  to  make  its  existence  known  by 
outward  effects.  Lastly,  it  is  urged  that  faith  and 
sight  are  opposed  (i  Cor.  xiii.  12),  and  yet  we 
profess  our  belief  in  the  Church,  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed.  The  full  answer  to  this  difficulty  belongs 
to  the  Treatise  on  Faith,  when  we  shall  speak  of 
the  obscurity  of  faith ;  the  reply  in  short  is,  that 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  an  object  being  known 
in  two  ways,  one  of  them  clear  and  the  other 
obscure ;  besides  which  my  belief  tells  me  that  the 


170]  DIFFICULTIES  AGAINST   VISIBILITY.  243 

assembly  which  I  see  visible  before  my  eyes  is  the 
Church  founded  by  Christ,  which  is  certain,  but  not 
evident,  (n.  201.) 

171.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
explained  the  meaning  of  the  words  church  and 
churches ;  we  have  shown  that  the  Church  is 
perennial  and  that  she  is  visible ;  and  we  have 
indicated  the  lines  to  be  followed  in  answering  the 
difficulties  that  may  be  brought  against  the  last- 
named  doctrine. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   END   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

172.  Scope  of  Chapter. — Hitherto  we  have  been 
considering  the  Church  as  being  the  assemblage  of 
believers   in  Christ,  who  were  under  such  special 
providential  guidance  that  they  would  never  cease 
to  hold  the  truth.     In  the  present  chapter  we  shall 
endeavour  to  show  that  the  Church  is  more  than 
this :  that  it  is  a  society,  the  members  of  which  are 
bound  together  by  something  more  than  holding  a 
common  belief,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man 
to  join  this  society  and  to  obey  its  laws.     This  will 
be  the   place  to  explain  the  true  meaning  of  the 
maxim,    so   often    misunderstood,  that   out   of  the 
Church  there  is  no  salvation. 

173.  Meaning  of  Society. — It  is  not  every  collection 
of  men  that  constitutes  a  Society :  this  word  is  not 
applicable  unless  the  collection  have  some  essential 
bond  of  union.     It  belongs  to  writers  on  Ethics  to 
discuss  this  matter  fully :  it  will  be  enough  for  us  to 
give  some  necessary  explanations. 

Co-operation  towards  a  common  end  is  the  bond 
of  union.  Whenever  it  is  found  that  several  inde- 
pendent units  are  working  together  to  bring  about 
a  result,  there  is  some  sort  of  society.  The  word 


173)  MEANING  OP  SOCIETY.  143 

cannot  be  properly  applied  unless  the  units  are  con- 
scious that  they  are  co-operating,  which  they  cannot 
be  unless  they  are  individually  capable  of  conceiving 
what  it  is  to  work  for  an  end.  Thus  it  is  only  in  an 
analogical  sense  that  we  can  speak  of  societies  of 
bees,  or  of  the  animals  that  work  together  to  build 
up  coral  islands ;  for  assuredly  no  particular  beast 
recognizes  that  the  formation  of  honey-comb  or  of 
dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean  is  an  object  on 
which  it  is  well  to  expend  its  energies;  no  more 
than  the  trees  of  a  forest  are  aware  that  they  are 
working  together  to  secure  moisture  for  the  earth, 
or  the  waves  of  the  sea  to  construct  a  breakwater  of 
sand.  No  true  society  then  can  be  formed,  except 
of  men  or  angels,  for  none  but  spiritual  beings  are 
capable  of  working  for  an  end. 

To  form  a  society,  it  is  not  enough  that  the 
members  should  desire  the  attainment  of  the  same 
end :  they  must  exert  themselves  towards  its  attain- 
ment, using  such  means  as  are  suitable  to  their 
nature  and  capacity.  These  means  will  vary 
immensely  according  to  the  circumstances  of  various 
men ;  but  they  derive  unity  from  the  oneness  of  the 
end  to  which  they  are  directed. 

174.  Societies  Classified. — We  may  distinguish 
societies  the  members  of  which  are  free  to  follow 
their  own  will  as  to  whether  they  will  work  for  the 
common  end,  or  will  refrain :  and  those  in  which 
they  are  morally  bound  to  do  their  part,  so  long  as 
they  continue  to  be  members.  A  cricket  club  is  an 
example  of  the  first,  a  religious  congregation  of  the 
second  sort.  Again,  there  are  societies  the  members 


246  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [174 

of  which  can  withdraw  when  they  please,  as  in  some 
congregations  without  vows ;  and  others  where  there 
is  no  right  of  withdrawal,  as  when  perpetual  vows 
have  been  taken,  or  marriage  contracted.  A  last 
distinction  is  between  those  societies  which  men 
are  free  to  join  or  to  abstain  from  as  they  please, 
and  those  which  every  man  in  normal  circumstances 
is  bound  to  join.  These  are  three,  which  shall  be 
described  in  the  following  section. 

175.  Family,  State,  and  Church. — There  is  one 
society  which  every  man  enters  as  soon  as  he  is 
born,  and  that  without  his  having  any  choice  as  to 
the  matter.  This  society  is  the  Family,  having  for 
its  end  the  nurture  and  education  of  the  child.  The 
Family  is  a  perfect  society,  in  so  far  as  it  is  capable 
of  attaining  its  end  without  calling  in  aid  from 
without :  although  such  aid  is  useful,  in  order  to 
secure  the  end  more  effectually.  The  State  is 
another  society  to  which  every  man  belongs,  unless 
he  chance  to  be  placed  in  wholly  abnormal  circum- 
stances of  solitude.  The  end  of  this  society  is  the 
temporal  well-being  of  its  members.  It  is  only  as 
member  of  some  civil  community  that  a  man  can 
make  use  of  all  his  faculties ;  but  he  is  ordinarily  at 
full  liberty  to  transfer  himself  from  one  to  another 
at  his  pleasure.  Lastly,  as  man  has  a  supernatural 
destiny  appointed  him  by  God,  as  will  be  fully 
explained  in  another  place  in  our  second  volume,  it 
has  pleased  God  to  establish  a  society  which  all 
men  are  bound  to  enter,  and  which  has  for  its 
end  the  helping  its  members  to  attain  their  true 
supernatural  end.  This  Society  is  the  Church. 


175]  FAMILY,  STATE,  AND  CHURCH.  147 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  every  permanent,  stable 
society  is  entitled  to  the  name  of  a  state :  and  it 
follows  that  the  Church  is  a  state.  But  this  word 
is  not  often  used,  except  as  meaning  the  civil  state, 
which  is  distinguished  from  the  ecclesiastical :  the 
word  civil  is  inserted  whenever  there  is  risk  of 
ambiguity. 

176.  The  Church  Supernatural. — What  we  have 
said  as  to  the  end  of  the  Church  suffices  to  prove 
that  the  Church  is  a  perfect  society,  or  one  which 
is  self-sufficing,  not  needing  the  aid  of  any  other 
society ;  and  this  because  its  end  is  independent, 
and  not  included  in  the  end  of  any  other  society, 
such  as  the  civil  state.  The  end  of  a  railway  com- 
pany is  to  facilitate  communication,  which  belongs 
to  the  temporal  well-being  of  the  people,  and  thus 
comes  within  the  end  of  civil  society ;  a  railway 
company,  therefore,  is  not  a  perfect  society.  But 
the  end  of  the  Church  is  nothing  temporal,  except 
so  far  as  the  present  life  is  the  time  during  which 
each  man  is  bound  to  secure  his  eternal  end.  The 
end  of  the  State,  therefore,  does  not  include  the  end 
of  the  Church. 

It  is  in  and  through  the  Church  that  the  work 
of  Christ  is  carried  on  in  the  world.  This  follows 
from  the  charge  given  by  Christ  to  His  Apostles 
(St.  John  xx.  21) :  "  As  the  Father  hath  sent  Me, 
I  also  send  you,"  and  other  texts  on  the  same 
subject  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  18 ;  St.  Mark  xvi.  15) ;  and 
we  see  from  2  Cor.  v.  20  that  St.  Paul  regarded 
himself  as  being  an  ambassador  for  Christ.  The 
work  of  Christ  is  double  :  He  once  for  all  redeemed 


148  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH  [176 

mankind  by  His  Death  on  Calvary;  and  this 
redemption  is  continually  applied  to  individual 
men  by  the  ministry  of  the  Church. 

The  Church  is  to  be  called  a  Supernatural 
Society,  inasmuch  as  its  end  is  something  above 
nature :  understanding  by  nature  that  which  is 
required  by  the  constitution  of  man,  of  body  and 
soul.  It  will  be  shown  in  its  proper  place  that  man 
might  have  been  created  with  no  destiny  but  that 
which  would  be  required  by  his  nature,  as  being 
composed  of  a  rational  soul  informing  a  material 
body.  But  the  actual  destiny  prepared  for  man  is 
something  higher  than  this,  being  the  sight  of  God, 
called  the  Beatific  Vision ;  and  the  end  for  which 
the  Church  is  established  is  to  assist  man  to  lead 
a  holy  life  on  earth,  and  by  so  doing  to  attain 
to  his  eternal  end.  This  end  being  supernatural 
(St.  Thomas,  Sum.  Theol.  i.  2.  q.  5.  a.  5.),  the  Church 
may  be  called  a  Supernatural  Society.  Moreover,  the 
foundation  of  the  Church  was  supernatural,  being 
the  work  of  the  Son  of  God  made  Flesh  :  admission 
to  it  is  obtained,  as  we  shall  see,  by  Baptism,  and 
the  means  of  sanctification  which  it  employs  are  the 
O'her  Sacraments,  which  are  supernatural :  and  it 
i>  under  the  special  supernatural  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

177.  Christ  the  Head,  the  Church  the  Body.— 
Much  that  has  been  said  in  the  last  paragraph 
needs  illustration  and  development  to  be  obtained 
f  om  various  parts  of  Theology.  But  the  doctrine 
that  the  Church  is  supernatural  follows  at  once 
from  the  view  which  the  Fathers  have  derived  from 


177]  CHRIST  THE  HEAD,  THE  CHURCH  THE  BODY.  249 

the  Scripture,  that  the  Church  may  be  spoken  of  as 
a  Body,  under  Christ  the  Head.  This  idea  is  set 
forth  in  the  whole  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  is  used  by  St.  Paul 
as  the  foundation  of  an  argument  on  a  practical 
matter;  and  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  we  read  that  Apostles  and  other 
pastors  were  given  for  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ ;  that  we  -may  in  all  things  grow  up  in  Him 
Who  is  the  Head,  even  Christ.  (See  also  Ephes. 
v.  22 — 24.)  The  Fathers  point  out  that  this 
doctrine  involves  the  pre-eminence  of  Christ  over 
the  Church ;  for,  as  St.  Augustine  observes  (On  the 
Christian  Struggle,  c.  xx.  n.  22 ;  P.L.  40,  301),  the 
head,  where  the  senses  have  their  place,  is  in  a 
manner  the  representative  of  the  soul  of  man ;  and 
in  like  manner  Christ  is  the  Head  over  all  the 
Christian  people.  Again,  the  influence  of  the  head 
redounds  into  the  whole  body,  which  derives  all  its 
living  power  from  the  head ;  and  so  we  read  in 
St.  John  (i.  16),  that  of  the  fulness  of  Christ  we  all 
have  received  ;  and  St.  Paul  tells  us  (Coloss.  ii.  19), 
that  from  the  head  the  whole  body,  by  joints  and 
bands  being  supplied  with  nourishment  and  com- 
pacted, groweth  unto  the  increase  of  God.  In  like 
manner,  Origen  says  (Contra  Celsum,  vi.  48 ;  P.G.  n, 
1373),  that  the  Word  of  God,  moving  the  whole 
body,  that  is  to  say,  the  Church,  as  need  requires, 
moves  also  each  member  of  them  that  belong  to  the 
Church. 

178.  The   Mystic  Body. —  When  it  is  wished  to 
distinguish  the  natural  Body  of  Christ  which  formed 


ijo  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH.  (178 

part  of  the  Sacred  Humanity  from  the  Church, 
that  is  done  by  saying  that  the  Church  is  the 
mystic  body.  This  word  denotes  something  the 
nature  of  which  is  known  by  revelation  only,  and 
Qot  by  natural  sources  of  knowledge,  It  is  plain 
that  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  Christ  deserves 
this  name,  for  it  is  by  revelation  that  we  know  that 
He  was  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God,  and  that  He  is 
still  the  source  of  all  the  grace  which  comes  to  the 
members  of  the  Church. 

179.  The  Three  Societies. — We  have  seen  that  the 
three  societies  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
having  distinct  and  independent  ends,  are  inde- 
pendent one  of  the  other,  (n.  176.)  Not  only  the 
object  sought,  but  the  means  employed  and  the 
conditions  and  duration  of  membership  are  totally 
different  in  the  three  cases.  The  members  in  each 
case  are  living  human  beings,  and  in  the  ideal  con- 
dition of  affairs  every  such  human  being  would  be  a 
member  of  all  three,  and  he  would  have  no  difficulty 
in  conforming  his  conduct  to  the  laws  of  all  three. 
If  each  society  be  governed  with  wisdom,  its  end 
will  be  attained,  without  the  smallest  interference 
with  the  other  two.  If  cases  of  apparent  conflict 
arise,  it  is  because  the  governors  of  one  society  have 
yielded  to  an  ever-present  tendency  and  encroached 
upon  the  domain  of  the  other ;  as  if  the  Church 
were  to  prescribe  the  number  of  hours  of  sleep  to 
be  allowed  to  an  infant,  or  an  emperor  to  put  forth 
professions  of  religious  faith. 

At  the  same  time,  each  of  the  three  societies  can 
assist  the  other  two,  by  inducing  its  members  to 


179]  THE  THREE  SOCIETIES.  *ji 

do  their  duty  in  all  respects,  which  will  include 
their  doing  their  duty  as  members  of  the  other 
societies;  and  each  will  find  its  advantage  in 
thus  acting.  Parents  will  train  their  children  in 
habits  of  piety  and  of  respect  for  authority ;  while 
the  State  lends  the  assistance  of  its  physical  force 
to  secure  both  the  family  and  the  Church  in  the 
exercise  of  their  rights.  The  Church  assists  the 
other  societies  by  its  insistance  upon  the  duty  of 
piety,  which  regulates  the  relations  of  superiors  and 
inferiors,  urging  the  doctrine  of  St.  Paul  that  every 
soul  should  be  subject  to  higher  powers,  for  there  is 
no  power  but  from  God ;  and  this  for  conscience 
sake  (Romans  xiii.  I — 5) ;  and  again,  that  children 
should  obey  their  parents  in  the  Lord.  (Ephes.  vi.  i.) 
In  point  of  fact,  we  learn  from  history  in  how  many 
ways  the  influence  of  the  Church  has  helped  to 
promote  the  end  of  civil  society,  which  is  the 
temporal  well-being  of  man.  It  has  not  always 
succeeded,  but  its  tendency  has  been  to  abolish 
slavery,  by  teaching  that  all  men  are  brothers  of 
Christ ;  to  exalt  women,  by  declaring  that  marriage 
was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  Sacrament,  and  pro- 
claiming it  indissoluble,  as  well  as  by  exhibiting  the 
high  dignity  of  the  Mother  of  God ;  it  has  restrained 
tyranny,  for  God  shall  judge  the  tyrant ;  it  has  effec- 
tively urged  men  to  visit  the  tribes  of  barbarians, 
bringing  civilization  along  with  religion;  and  it 
has  wrought  a  revolution  in  the  condition  of  the 
poor,  by  the  simple  promise  that  what  is  done  to 
them  shall  be  regarded  as  done  to  Christ.  (St.  Matt, 
xxv.  40.) 


«5»  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [180 

180.  The  Ends  compared. — We  have  seen  that 
the  three  societies  may  work  together  in  harmony, 
and -will  do  so,  if  all  do  their  duty.  But  cases  may 
arise  of  apparent  clash,  and  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider what  course  is  to  be  adopted.  The  matter 
is  settled  by  considering  the  ends :  the  end  of 
civil  society  is  superior  to  that  of  the  family,  and 
the  end  of  the  Church  is  the  chief  of  all ;  for  the 
work  of  the  family  belongs  principally  to  infancy, 
that  of  the  State  to  adult  life,  while  that  of  the 
Church  is  mainly  attained  beyond  the  grave,  and 
concerns  eternity.  It  follows  that  when  parents 
plainly  and  grossly  neglect  their  duty  to  their 
children,  the  State  is  in  its  right  in  controlling  them  ; 
as  if  they  starve  their  children,  neglect  to  provide 
them  with  medical  care  and  education,  or  bring 
them  up  in  ways  opposed  to  common  morality.  In 
like  manner,  the  Church  curbs  the  gross  excesses  of 
the  State  by  solemn  condemnation,  which  gives 
voice  to  the  judgment  of  the  people,  and  sometimes 
by  inflicting  excommunication  or  other  spiritual 
punishments  for  crime ;  more  frequently,  however, 
by  the  passive  attitude  of  refusal  of  obedience  to  an 
unjust  command,  with  patient  endurance  of  the 
results ;  on  the  principle  taught  by  the  Apostles,  that 
we  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men.  (Acts  v.  29.) 

What  has  just  been  said  is  independent  of  the 
question  as  to  the  right  by  which  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  at  one  time  were  accustomed  to  take  what 
may  seem  to  have  been  purely  political  action ;  it 
may  be  that  they  acted  merely  in  virtue  of  a  right 
Accorded  to  them  by  the  public  law  of  Christendom. 


i8o]  THE  ENDS  COMPARED.  253 

More  will  be  found  on  the  subject  of  this  and  the 
foregoing  sections  in  a  future  page.  (nn.  300 — 305.) 
181.  Duty  of  Membership. — It  is  explained  in 
Ethics  that  that  conduct  of  man  is  morally  right 
which  tends  to  bring  him  to  his  end.  We  have 
already  seen  (n.  176)  that  the  end  of  man  is  the 
supernatural  possession  of  God,  and  the  point  will 
be  proved  in  its  proper  place ;  man  is  therefore 
bound  to  use  all  means  available  to  him  for 
attaining  this  end,  among  which  must  be  reckoned 
membership  of  the  supernatural  society  which  has 
been  divinely  instituted  to  help  men  to  attain  this 
end.  It  is,  therefore,  the  duty  of  every  man  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Church,  and,  being  a 
member,  to  obey  its  laws.  Just  as  with  all  other 
duties,  no  man  sins  by  omitting  to  join  himself  to 
the  Church  if  for  any  reason  it  is  impossible  to  do 
so,  or  if  he  be  ignorant  of  his  duty.  If  a  person  has 
never  heard  of  the  claims  of  the  Church  to  his 
obedience,  his  ignorance  obviously  excuses  him  from 
sin  in  not  obeying ;  for  there  is  no  sin  where  there 
is  no  malicious  will,  and  his  ignorance  prevents  his 
exercising  any  will  in  the  matter.  Also,  if  he  has 
heard  something  of  the  claims  of  the  Church,  and 
has  inquired  into  the  foundation  of  these  claims 
without  arriving  at  assurance  that  they  are  based  on 
a  Divine  command,  he  is  excused ;  for  under  these 
circumstances  it  is  not  certain  to  him  that  there  is 
any  law  binding  him.  But  the  case  is  different  if 
the  doubt  as  to  his  duty  arise  in  his  mind  and  he 
fail  to  take  pains  to  clear  it  up,  using  as  much 
diligence  as  he  would  use  if  some  weighty  temporal 


154  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH.  {181 


interest  of  his  own  were  concerned.  Such  neglect 
will  be  more  or  less  faulty  according  to  the  greater 
or  less  urgency  with  which  the  duty  of  inquiry 
presents  itself  to  his  mind ;  ignorance  may  excuse 
from  the  fulfilment  of  a  duty,  but  it  may  itself  be 
sinful,  as  resulting  from  the  neglect  of  some  other 
duty. 

The  spiritual  position  of  those  who  live  and  die 
outside  the  visible  communion  of  the  Church,  does 
not  concern  us  now;  it  will  be  considered  in  its 
place,  in  the  Treatise  on  Grace.  At  present,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that,  as  we  believe,  there  is  no 
eternal  torment  in  store  except  for  such  as  freely, 
knowingly,  and  wilfully  violate  the  law  of  God  in  a 
grave  matter,  and  persevere  in  their  rebellious  dis- 
position to  the  end  of  their  time  of  probation. 

At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
though  the  position  of  men  who  are  outside  the 
visible  communion  of  the  Church  may  possibly  not 
be  sin  nor  the  result  of  sin,  yet  it  is  a  grievous 
misfortune.  Membership  of  the  Church  is  a  position 
which  entails  duties,  but  to  which  also  immense 
privileges  are  attached ;  chief  among  these  is  the 
right  of  participating  in  the  Sacraments,  which  are 
the  principal  means  by  which  the  merits  of  the 
Death  of  Christ  are  applied  to  individuals;  and 
this  itself  is  only  a  part  of  the  life-giving  influence 
which  is  ever  flowing  from  Christ  the  Head  to  the 
members  of  His  Mystic  Body.  See  the  same  idea 
under  another  figure  in  St.  John's  Gospel,  (xv.  4.) 
The  subject  of  doubts  as  to  faith  will  recur, 
(n. 


181)  DUTY  OF  MEMBERSHIP.  855 

What  we  have  been  saying  is  embodied  in  the 
short  maxim,  that  outside  the  Church  there  is  no 
salvation.  All  who  attain  salvation  without  being 
visible  members  of  the  Church,  do  so  by  virtue  of 
an  invisible  membership.  In  this  way  are  reconciled 
the  declarations  of  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council 
under  Innocent  III.  in  1215,  Extra  Ecclesiam  nullus 
omnino  salvatur — "  Outside  the  Church  no  man 
whatever  is  saved  "  (Denz.  357 ;  see  also  635),  and 
the  Decretal  of  the  same  Pope  (ibid.  343)  with  the 
Encyclicals  of  Pius  IX.  (Denz.  1504,  1529),  who 
teaches  that  God  in  His  goodness  cannot  allow 
any  one  to  pass  to  eternal  punishment  who  is  not 
guilty  of  wilful  fault.  The  rule  is  that  salvation 
belongs  to  the  members  of  the  visible  body ;  as  to 
others,  we  have  no  distinct  revelation,  but  we  know 
that  God  is  just.  St.  Pius  V.  and  other  Popes  have 
condemned  the  proposition  put  forward  by  Baius, 
that  there  is  sin  in  purely  negative  infidelity,  in  those 
to  whom  Christ  has  not  been  preached. 

What  we  have  given  as  the  rule  follows  from 
what  we  have  said  as  to  the  Church.  Salvation  is 
through  Christ ;  the  Church  is  the  means  by  which 
the  work  of  Christ  is  perpetuated  on  earth.  The 
parting  words  of  our  Lord  (St.  Mark  xvi.  16) 
promised  salvation  to  him  that  believes  and  by 
Baptism  becomes  a  member  of  the  Church ;  and 
the  doctrine  of  St.  Peter  (i  St.  Peter  iii.  20)  teaches 
that  in  the  Ark  of  Noe  a  few  persons  were  saved  by 
water,  whereunto  Baptism  being  of  the  like  form 
saveth  us  also.  It  is  in  accordance  with  this  Apostle 
that  St.  Augustine  speaks  (De  Unitate  Ecclesice,  c.  5, 


256  THE  END  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [181 

n.  9 ;  P.G.  43,  397) :  No  Christian  doubts  that, 
without  interfering  with  the  truth  of  the  narrative, 
which  tells  how  the  house  of  the  just  man  was 
saved  from  the  Flood  while  the  sinners  perished,  the 
Ark  of  Noe  was  also  a  figure  of  the  Church.  Origen 
also,  commenting  on  the  history  of  the  spies  who 
were  received  by  Rahab  (Josue  ii.  19;  vi.  22), 
remarks  that  outside  this  house,  that  is  to  say 
outside  the  Church,  no  man  is  saved.  (Origen,  Horn, 
in  lib.  Jesu  Nane,  3,  n.  5 ;  P.G.  12,  841.)  The  phrase 
of  St.  Cyprian  is  to  the  same  effect :  No  one  can 
have  God  for  his  Father,  who  has  not  the  Church 
for  his  Mother.  (De  Unitate  Eccl.  n.  6;  P.L.  4, 

503.) 

182.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
described  what  is  meant  by  a  society,  and  pointed 
out  that  there  are  three  principal  societies,  to  which 
every  one  ought  to  belong,  and  which  are  dis- 
tinguished by  their  ends.  Among  these  it  is  shown 
that  the  Church  is  a  supernatural  body  having 
Christ  for  its  Head ;  and  that  the  three  can  work 
harmoniously  together,  but  that  in  case  of  clash, 
the  Church  should  prevail.  Lastly,  that  is  not  a 
duty  alone,  but  a  privilege  and  advantage  to  belong 
to  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

183.  Subject  of  Chapter. — The  Church  of  Christ, 
as  we  have  seen  (n.  172),  is  a  society  made  up  of 
living  men.     In  the  present  chapter  our  task  will  be 
to  consider  what  men  they  are  that  belong  to  this 
society ;  what  are  the  terms  of  admission  ;  can  one 
who  has  once  gained  admission  lose  the  privilege : 
if  so,  can  he  regain  it,  and  on  what  conditions.    We 
shall  find  that  the  answers  to  these  questions  are  in 
some  cases  furnished  us  by  formal  definitions  of  the 
Church ;  in  other  cases,  no  such  definition  can  be 
found,  but  there  is  such  an  agreement  among  persons 
of  authority  that  the  answer  to  be  given  is  not  open 
to  doubt ;  while  in  yet  other  cases  the  point  is  still 
freely  discussed  in  the  Catholic  schools.     A  great 
part  of  the  discussion  is  of  a  fundamental  nature, 
touching  the  leading  points  of  difference  between 
the  Church  and  many  of  the  forms  of  Christianity 
that  exist  in  Western  Europe  and  in  America ;  and 
the  whole  throws  much  light  upon  the  true  character 
of  the  sacred  society. 

184.  Terms  defined. — It  will  be  necessary  in  the 
course  of  this  discussion  to  use  certain  terms  which 
enter  into  the  questions  which  we  are  to  discuss, 

R  VOL.  I. 


158  THB  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  [184 

but  ths  full  meaning  and  bearing  of  which  cannot 
be  understood  until  we  come  to  them  in  their  proper 
place,  in  the  Treatise  on  Grace  and  elsewhere.  We 
shall  find  that  some  of  the  warmest  controversies  of 
theology  turn  upon  the  exact  nature  of  the  things 
denoted  by  these  terms ;  but  an  explanation  of  these 
terms,  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose,  can  be 
givsn  without  the  introduction  of  any  controverted 
matter.  This  will  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose,  and 
we  proceed  to  endeavour  to  give  it. 

I.  The   Blessed.      The   Lost.  —  Probably  all  who 
bear  the  name  of  Christian  agree  that,  at  the  close 
of  the  present  life  on  earth,  men  pass  through  death 
to  another  form  of  life :  and  that  in  this  other  life 
each  man  will  find  himself  in  one  or  the  other  of 
two  great  classes,  between  which  there  is  a  broad, 
essential,  enduring  difference :  those  whose  place  is 
in  the  one  class  enjoying  a  happiness  which  the 
members   of   the    other    class    are    without.      The 
doctrine  is  founded  on  countless  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, among  which  it  may  be  sufficient  to  refer  to 
St.  Matt.  xxv.  33.     The  discussion  of  the  nature  of 
the  life  of  the  two  classes  belongs  to  the  Treatise 
on  the  Four  Last  Things.     We  will  speak  of  these 
classes  as  the  Blessed  and  the  Lost. 

II.  The  Just.      Sinners. — It   follows  that   every 
man,  at  each  instant  of  his  existence  on  earth,  is 
in  such  a  state  that  if  he  die  at  that  instant  he  will 
either  be  one  of  the  number  of  the  Blessed,  or  of  the 
number  of  the  Lost.      Following  the  usage  of  the 
Holy  Gospel  (St.  Luke  v.  22)  we  will  call  these  the 
Just  and  Sinners  respectively.     With  a  change  of 


184]  THB  JUST.    SINNERS.  s» 

phrase,  we  sometimes  speak  of  the  Just  as  being  in 
the  state  of  grace,  and  of  Sinners  as  being  in  the 
state  of  sin.  The  sense  in  which  this  term  ig 
generally  applicable  to  infants  who  have  never  been 
guilty  of  any  sinful  act  will  be  seen  when  we  speak 
of  Original  Sin. 

III.  Predestined.     Foreknown. — God   knows   all 
things,    past,    present,    and    to    come :    wherefore, 
among  the  rest,  He  knows,  of  each  man,  whether 
after  death  he  will  be  one  of  the  Blessed  or  of  the 
Lost ;   or,  in  other  terms,  whether  at  the  instant 
before  death  he  will  be  one  of  the  Just  or  of  the 
Sinners.     We  hold,  with  St.  Paul  (i  Timothy  ii.  4), 
that  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  He  has  destined  each  man  for  a  place 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Blessed,  and  that  in  the  case  of 
the  Lost  this  Divine  destination  has  been  frustrated  : 
God  simply  knows  beforehand  that  they  will  not 
attain  to  that  for  which  He  destined  them.     Hence, 
the  word  Predestined  rightly  expressed  the  state  of 
those  living  men  who  after  death  will  be  among  the 
Blessed :  those  living  men  who  after  death  will  be 
among  the   Lost  are  fitly  said  to  be  Foreknown. 
We  shall  see  in  the  Treatise  on  Grace  that  this 
doctrine  of  Predestination  in  no  way  interferes  with 
the  freedom  and  responsibility  of  men,  and  that  it  is 
sound  advice  in  which  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine 
has  been  summed  up :   If  you  are  not  predestined, 
act  so  as  to  make  yourself  be  so.  (See  Franzelin, 
De  Deo,  p.  592.) 

IV.  Justification.     Sin. — We  hold  that  a  person 
is  sometimes  transferred,  by  the  free  mercy  of  God 


26o  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [184 

with  or  without  his  own  concurrence,  from  the 
number  of  Sinners  to  the  number  of  the  Just :  and 
that  no  one  of  the  Just  ever  passes  to  the  ranks  of 
Sinners  unless  he  commit  a  mortal  sin ;  that  is  to 
say,  freely  and  knowingly  do  some  act  which  God 
has  forbidden  under  pain  of  His  grievous  dis- 
pleasure. This  shows  the  meaning  of  the  term 
Justification  and  Sin.  If  a  Scripture  basis  for  this 
language  is  sought,  it  will  be  found  in  Romans 
iii.  24  and  i.  32.  Throughout  the  reasoning  life  of 
a  man  he  is  liable  to  sin  (i  Cor.  x.  12),  and  he  is 
capable  of  Justification.  (Ezech.  xviii.  27.) 

185.  Figures  of  the  Church. — In  Holy  Scripture 
we  find  various  figures  employed  to  describe  the 
Church,  and  each  of  these  teaches  us  some  new 
lesson.  The  Church  is  the  Vine,  which  spreads  its 
branches  everywhere  (St.  John  xv.  i — 7),  and  every 
leaf  of  which  owes  its  life  to  its  connection  with  the 
Stem.  The  Church  is  the  House  where  God  is  the 
Householder,  Who  cares  for  His  Family  while  they 
remain  with  Him,  and  if  they  have  left  Him  is  ever 
ready  to  receive  them  when  they  please  to  return. 
(St.  Luke  xv.  ii — 24.)  The  Church  is  the  Sheep- 
fold,  wherein  are  sheep  and  goats,  all  of  which  the 
faithful  Shepherd  defends  from  the  ravening  wolves 
that  devour  whatever  they  find  beyond  the  fence. 
(St.  John  x.  ii — 16.)  The  Church  is  a  Kingdom, 
and  is  repeatedly  spoken  of  by  St.  Matthew  as  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  while  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke 
prefer  the  phrase  Kingdom  of  God.  But  there  is 
no  figure  more  constantly  employed  than  that  of  a 
Living  Body,  such  as  the  body  of  man,  in  which  at 


185]  FIGURES  OF  THE  CHURCH  261 

once  we  distinguish  Head  and  Members  or  Limbs, 
This  figure  recommended  itself  especially  to  St.  Paul, 
who  uses  and  enlarges  on  it  repeatedly  (Romans  xii. ; 
i  Cor.  vi. ;  I  Cor.  xii.),  and  from  him  the  usage 
has  passed  into  the  language  of  Catholic  theology, 
and  it  is  usual  to  speak  of  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
an  I  of  the  Members  or  Limbs  that  constitute  the 
association. 

186.  Soul  and  Body  of  the  Church. — But  when  the 
Church  is  compared  to  a  body,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  is  a  living  body,  for  the  Church  is 
not  a  dead  corpse.  Now,  we  know  that  in  a  living 
man  there  is  a  material  body  informed  by  a  spiritual 
soul :  the  body  considered  as  being  apart  from  the 
soul  is  dead,  while  the  soul  is  essentially  living ;  but 
we  have  not  the  full  life  of  a  man  unless  soul  and 
body  are  fittingly  united  together.  From  these  con- 
siderations we  are  led  to  inquire  whether  there  is 
anything  in  the  Church  that  corresponds  to  the  soul 
and  body  of  a  living  man.  Now  the  body,  con- 
sidered as  a  mere  mass  of  matter,  is  equally  ready 
for  many  purposes ;  it  is  the  union  with  a  human 
soul  which  determines  it  as  being  a  body  of  a  man. 
In  the  same  way,  a  society  is  a  collection  of  men, 
but  there  must  be  something  beside  and  beyond  the 
fact  that  a  number  of  men  are  gathered  together 
that  determines  them  as  being  a  society  of  this  or 
that  character :  there  must  be  some  end  which  it  is 
proposed  to  attain  by  association,  and  some  spirit 
permeating  the  society,  and  leading  each  of  its 
members  so  to  shape  his  individual  conduct  as  more 
or  less  to  promote  this  end.  It  will  often  be  difficult 


2fa  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [186 

to  put  into  words  what  it  is  that  constitutes  this 
spirit,  and  it  will  sometimes  be  yet  harder  to  feel 
assured  how  far  it  is  partaken  of  by  all  those  who  in 
outward  semblance  belong  to  the  society ;  also,  we 
often  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  spirit  exists  in 
some  men  who  do  not,  in  a  material  sense,  belong 
to  the  association.  This  is  well  seen  in  the  case  of 
a  nation.  There  is  some  principle,  some  sameness 
of  spirit,  which  unites  all  men  who  are  entitled  to 
be  called  Englishmen,  although  it  might  be  hard  to 
state  with  fulness  and  precision  what  elements  are 
found  in  this  spirit.  Regularly  and  in  the  bulk  of 
cases  the  possession  of  this  spirit  goes  along  with 
birth  and  residence  in  England  ;  and  in  a  certain 
true  sense,  all  in  whom  this  material  element  is 
found  may  be  called  Englishmen.  But  not  in  the 
lull  sense ;  for  there  is  little  doubt  that  there  are 
persons  resident  in  England  who  are  wholly  devoid 
of  the  English  spirit :  who  make  to  themselves  an 
end  diverse  from  the  end  of  the  English  nation,  and 
whose  action  is  directed  to  the  attainment  of  the 
end  which  they  have  proposed  to  themselves ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  may  be  persons  resident  in 
other  countries  who  are  full  of  a  spirit  which  is,  in 
fact,  the  English  spirit  whether  they  are  aware  of  it 
or  not.  On  these  principles  we  can  distinguish  the 
soul  and  the  body  of  the  English  nation.  The 
external  fact  of  residence  marks  who  belong  to  the 
body ;  possession  of  the  spirit  makes  the  man 
belong  to  the  soul :  regularly,  the  soul  and  the 
body  are  composed  of  the  same  persons ;  but  excep- 
tionally, there  may  be  persons  belonging  to  the  soul 


t36J  SOUL  AND  BODY  OP  THE  CHURCH.  263 

who  belong  not  to  the  body,  and  belonging  to  the 
body  who  belong  not  to  the  soul. 

In  exactly  the  same  way  we  speak  of  the  Soul 
and  the  Body  of  the  Church.  The  Church  is  a 
society  of  men  instituted  by  Christ,  and  having  for 
its  end  to  lead  and  enable  men  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  redemption  of  the  human  race  wrought  by 
the  Founder ;  and  this  society  is  as  we  have  seen 
(n.  168)  visible:  it  has  an  external  organization. 
But  it  is  important  to  know  whether  the  possession 
of  the  spirit  is  co-extensive  -with  the  outward  organi- 
zation, or  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  the  spirit 
may  in  some  instances  be  found  beyond  the  bounds 
of  the  organization,  while  in  other  instances  it  is 
lacking  within  those  bounds.  In  other  words,  we 
must  inquire  what  constitutes  membership  of  the 
Soul  of  the  Church,  and  who  they  are  that  are 
members  of  the  Body. 

187.  Who  belong  to  the  Soul. — From  the  explana- 
tion given  it  follows  without  difficulty  that  they,  and 
they  only,  belong  to  the  Soul  of  the  Church  who, 
if  the  question  were  now  to  be  settled,  would  be 
found  to  have  secured  to  themselves  the  fruits  of 
the  Redemption  ;  to  have  the  spiritual  life  abun- 
dantly that  Christ  came  to  give  (St.  John  x.  10) ;  to 
be  partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature  (2  St.  Peter  i.  4), 
as  St.  Peter  speaks  :  for  these  only  are  fit  to  pass  to 
that  union  with  God  which  constitutes  the  state  of 
the  Blessed  ;  in  other  words,  the  Just  and  the  Just 
alone  constitute  the  Soul  of  the  Church,  (n.  184,  II.) 

It  will  be  seen  that  membership  of  the  Soul  of 
the  Church  is  a  present  fact,  and  is  independent  of 


j'4  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [187 

past  and  future ;  he  that  is  a  member  of  it  may 
cease  to  be  so  by  Sin,  he  that  is  not  a  member  may 
become  so  by  Justification,  (n.  184,  IV.)  Exactly 
the  same  is  true  of  nations :  he  that  is  now  full 
of  English  spirit  which  actuates  him  in  all  his 
conduct  may  once  have  been  the  determined  enemy 
of  England,  and  may  hereafter  again  take  up  this 
spirit  of  enmity.  It  follows  that  there  may  be 
some  of  the  Predestined  who  do  not  now  belong  to 
the  Soul  of  the  Church,  and  some  who  now  belong 
to  that  Soul  but  are  not  of  the  number  of  the 
Predestined. 

We  have  been  speaking  so  far  of  the  fulness  of 
membership  of  the  Soul  of  the  Church  ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  many  who  are  not  of  the  number  of  the 
Just  nevertheless  are  receiving  something  of  the 
benefit  of  the  Redemption,  for  they  receive  grace 
which  tends  to  lead  them  to  Justification,  and 
without  which  they  cannot  be  justified,  as  will  be 
seen  in  the  Treatise  on  Grace  :  these,  then,  may  be 
said  to  belong  to  the  Soul  of  the  Church,  but  in  an 
imperfect  sense. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  are  no  outward 
means  of  telling,  except  by  mere  conjecture,  what 
men  do  belong  to  the  Soul  of  the  Church,  and  what 
men  do  not  belong  to  it :  neither  have  we  any 
information,  beyond  conjecture,  what  proportion  of 
mankind  belong  to  it  at  any  given  instant.  God 
has  reserved  to  Himself  this  knowledge  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  number  of  the  Predestined. 
(2  Timothy  ii.  19,  and  the  Secret  said  in  the 
Mass  during  Lent.) 


1 88]  .   ;•  WHO  BELONG   TO   THE  BODY.  265 

188.  Who  belong  to  the  Body. — There  is  little  room 
for  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  matter  discussed 
in  the  last  paragraph :  when  once  the  meaning  that 
we  ascribe  to  the  phrase  "  Soul  of  the  Church  "  is 
understood,  it  follows  as  of  course  that  the  Soul  is 
co-extensive  with  the  Just.  But  it  is  otherwise  with 
regard  to  the  Body  of  the  Church  ;  and  some  of  the 
profoundest  differences  between  Catholics  and  other 
Christians  show  themselves  in  connection  with  the 
question  W 10  belong  to  the  Body  of  the  Church. 
Also,  this  is  a  question  on  some  branches  of  which 
there  is  not  absolute  agreement  among  Catholic 
theologians.  We  shall  first  state  what  is  denned 
doctrine  :  then  deal  with  the  principal  errors 
opposed  to  it ;  and  lastly,  discuss  some  of  the 
points  on  which  we  have  no  declaration  of  the 
Church. 

We  have  seen  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  Treatise 
that  Christ  established  a  society  to  continue  His 
work  on  earth,  and  enable  each  man  to  reap  the 
benefit  of  the  Redemption  which  He  wrought ; 
and  this  society  is  indicated  in  the  Scriptures  by 
various  figures,  some  of  which  we  have  cited. 
(n.  185.) 

We  have  then  now  to  inquire  who  they  are  that 
are  branches  of  the  Vine  :  who  belong  to  the  Family 
of  the  Great  Householder ;  who  are  the  sheep  that 
are  within  the  Fold  ;  who  are  the  subjects  of  the 
Kingdom :  who,  finally,  are  members  of  the  Body. 
To  discover  the  answer  to  these  questions  we  must 
look  in  the  Gospels,  for  it  is  in  them  that  we  read 
what  are  the  dispositions  which  it  pleased  the 


t66  THE  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  .  [188 

Founder  to  make,  and  it  must  always  be  held  in 
mind  that  the  matter  is  determined  by  His  will, 
and  cannot  be  settled  by  any  speculations  of  our 
own  as  to  what  arrangements  we  should  think  con- 
venient. We  must  see  what  are  the  conditions  of 
membership :  conditions  which  in  the  Divine  design 
were  to  be  fulfilled  by  all  the  human  race  (Isaias  ii.  2  ; 
Romans  x.  12),  and  the  fulfilment  of  which  secures 
great  spiritual  blessings  which  are  lost  by  those  in 
whose  cases  the  conditions  are  not  fulfilled,  whether 
the  failure  be  wilful  or  unavoidable.  Following  this 
method,  we  find  that  the  Founder  required  that 
every  member  of  the  Church  should  be  admitted  by 
the  initiatory  rite  of  Baptism.  The  closing  charge 
given  by  our  Lord  to  His  Apostles  was  to  go  and 
make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  with 
the  rite  which  then  became  a  Christian  Sacrament 
(St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19) ;  and  the  Apostles  acted  on 
the  injunction,  as  is  seen  in  many  passages  of  the 
Acts  (ii.  38 ;  viii.  12  ;  viii.  36 ;  ix.  18,  &c.),  and  of 
the  Epistles.  (Galat.  iii.  27.)  A  condition  of  this 
Baptism  was  the  profession  of  belief  in  the  doctrine 
taught  by  the  accredited  ministers  of  the  Church 
(Acts  viii.  37  ;  xvi.  31)  ;  and  they  who  had  been 
received  into  the  society  retained  this  belief  and 
continued  in  spiritual  communion  with  the  Apostles. 
(Acts  ii.  42.)  And  in  these  three  elements,  Baptism, 
profession  of  belief,  and  communion  with  those  who 
have  authority  in  the  Church,  especially  by  recep- 
tion of  the  Sacraments  administered  by  them,  we 
have  all  that  is  required  to  constitute  any  man  a 
member  of  the  Body  of  the  Church. 


188]  WHO  BELONG  TO  THE  BODY.  267 

The  whole  of  this  doctrine  will  be  better  under- 
stood when  the  following  paragraphs  are  read,  in 
which  we  deal  with  various  errors  upon  the  subject 
of  the  Body. 

189.  Various  Errors. — It  will  be  observed  that 
all  the  elements  which  we  have  just  explained  as 
requisite  in  a  member  of  the  Body  of  the  Church 
are  of  an  external  nature ;  and  this  is  in  agreement 
with  our  doctrine  (n.  168)  that  the  Church  is  visible; 
for  a  society  is  not  visible,  in  the  sense  explained,  if 
membership  of  it  depends  upon  purely  internal  facts, 
especially  if  they  are  such  as  are  known  to  God 
alone.  Perhaps  no  one  has  asserted  the  necessity 
of  any  further  external  condition  distinct  from  those 
that  have  been  mentioned,  so  that  our  doctrine  is 
admitted  by  all  writers  who  uphold  the  doctrine  of 
the  Visibility  of  the  Church,  as  is  done  by  the 
writers  of  some  schools  within  the  Established 
Church  of  England  ;  and  this  agreement  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  great  variety  of  belief  as  to 
the  true  nature  and  conditions  of  Baptism,  as  to 
the  faith  which  it  is  necessary  to  possess,  and  as 
to  the  ^persons  by  whom  lawful  Sacraments  are 
administered. 

But  other  schools  within  the  Establishment, 
together  with  perhaps  all  other  Protestants,  set 
up  the  need  of  certain  internal  elements  in  the 
character  of  a  member  of  the  Body  of  the  Church, 
and  these  consistently  deny  that  the  Church  is 
Visible.  The  systems  which  are  advocated  by  these 
have  their  speculative  side,  by  which  they  are  con- 
nected with  certain  erroneous  views  on  the  nature 


268  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [189 

of  justification  and  on  the  impossibility  of  one  who 
has  once  been  in  God's  favour  and  Just,  in  the  sense 
explained  in  n.  184,  falling  away  and  passing  to  the 
class  of  Sinners.  But  these  same  systems  have  their 
practical  side,  which  perhaps  constitutes  no  small 
part  of  their  attractiveness,  for  they  open  a  door 
which  afforded  escape  from  the  yoke  of  subjection 
to  authority.  The  view  that  no  one  was  a  member 
of  that  Body  of  the  Church  which  has  authority 
to  enforce  discipline  if  certain  interior,  invisible 
elements  were  wanting  to  him,  was  supplemented 
by  another  equally  false  doctrine  that  no  share  of 
the  authority  of  the  Church  could  be  exercised  by 
one  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Body.  (See  n.  193.) 
Hence  it  was  easy  to  conclude  that  no  one  was 
bound  to  render  obedience  to  a  man  in  whose  case 
he  judged  that  these  internal  requisites  of  member- 
ship were  wanting;  (and  as  a  judgment  of  this  kind 
was  purely  arbitrary,  the  doctrines  in  question  in 
fact  afforded  an  excuse  for  declining  all  submission 
to  ecclesiastical  authority ;  and  it  was  a  not  unna- 
tural sequel  to  say  that  no  civil  authority  over 
Christians  could  belong  to  one  who  had  never 
acquired  or  had  forfeited  the  name  of  Christian. 

We  need  not  dwell  on  the  history  of  the 
Novatian  heresy,  which  sprang  up  about  the  year 
251 ;  starting  from  the  true  doctrine  that  to  obtain 
a  false  certificate  of  having  complied  with  the  law 
of  the  persecutors  by  sacrificing  to  idols  was  a 
grievous  sin,  these  heretics  maintained  that  these 
libellatici  (n.  133)  were  incapable  of  pardon  ;  that 
all  who  communicated  with  them,  in  like  manner, 


189]  VARIOUS  ERRORS.  269 

were  guilty  of  unpardonable  sin,  and  forfeited  all 
authority  in  the  Church.  Hence  they  concluded 
that  Pope  St.  Cornelius,  who  had  compromised 
himself  in  this  manner,  was  no  longer  Pope,  and 
they  proceeded  to  supply  him  with  a  successor ; 
and  thus  the  honour  of  being  the  first  anti-Pope 
falls  to  Novatian.  The  particulars  will  be  seen  in 
any  history  of  the  Church :  for  example,  Rohrbacher. 
(3,  285,  seq.)  In  like  manner,  the  Donatists  main- 
tained that  the  whole  Church,  except  themselves, 
had  become  corrupt  through  holding  communion 
with  some  traditores  (n.  133),  who  had  delivered  up 
the  sacred  books  at  the  bidding  of  Diocletian ;  and 
they  are  often  taunted  by  St.  Augustine  with  holding 
that  the  true  faith  which  ought  to  be  world-wide 
was  confined  to  a  corner  of  Africa.  (St.  Augustine, 
Epistle  44 ;  P.L.  33, 175,  and  Rohrbacher,  3,  489,  &c.) 
In  just  the  same  spirit,  the  Fraticelli,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  held  that  the  holiness  of  spiritual 
life  and  authority  were  not  to  be  found  beyond 
the  bounds  of  their  own  body:  a  tenet  which  was 
condemned  by  Pope  John  XXII.  in  1318.  (Denz. 
414.)  Just  a  century  later,  we  find  Pope  Martin  V., 
in  the  Council  of  Constance,  condemning  a  number 
of  propositions  taught  by  John  Wyclif  in  England, 
and  by  John  Hus  in  Bohemia,  among  which  we 
have,  that  no  one  is  civil  governor,  prelate,  or 
bishop  while  he  is  in  mortal  sin  (Denz.  491) ;  that 
the  prayer  of  the  Foreknown  is  of  no  avail  (Ibid. 
502,  and  see  n.  184  ante)  ;  and  that  the  Church  is 
the  collection  of  the  Predestinate.  Similar  views 
were  held  by  Luther  and  Calvin,  and  as  to  the 


•70  THE  if  EMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [185 

moral  results  we  may  consult  the  two  little  books 
mentioned  in  the  Note  below l :  and  the  same 
prevailed  among  the  Jansenists,  whose  heresy  had 
so  much  in  common  with  that  of  Calvin,  and  whose 
history  and  teaching  will  come  before  us  more 
than  once.  One  of  the  most  prominent  among 
them  was  Pasquier  Quesnel,  a  Frenchman,  whose 
Reflexions  Morales  sur  U  Nouveau  Testament  was  pub- 
lished in  1694.  These  Reflections  were  expressed 
in  language  of  great  piety,  and  insidiously  conveyed 
doctrines  the  plain  statement  of  which  would  have 
shocked  a  reader  who  retained  any  Catholic  prin- 
ciples. It  may  suffice  to  quote  one :  "  There  is 
nothing  of  more  ample  reach  than  the  Church  of 
God,  for  it  is  composed  of  all  the  Elect  and  Just 
of  all  ages."  (Denz.  1291.)  Here  we  have  a 
covert  insinuation  that  the  Elect  and  the  Just  are 
co-extensive  classes,  and  that  no  man  is  in  the 
Church  who  does  not  belong  to  the  Elect  and  Just. 
This  doctrine,  along  with  a  hundred  other  similar 
remarks,  was  justly  condemned  by  Pope  Clement 
XL,  when  in  1713  he  issued  the  Bull  Unigenitus, 
the  conflicts  concerning  which  fill  so  large  a  place 
in  Church  history.  Finally,  we  may  mention  the 
Synod  of  Pistoia,  an  assembly  of  Tuscan  Bishops 
who  gathered  together  in  the  year  1789  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Grand  Duke  Leopold  and  of  Scipio 
Ricci,  the  Bishop  of  the  place  of  meeting.  These 

1  "  The  Truth  about  JOHN  WYCLIF,  chiefly  from  Evidence  of  his 
Contemporaries  "  :  by  JOHN  STEVENSON,  S.J. 

"The  Only  Reliable  Evidence  concerning  MARTIN  LUTHE»" 
by  HENRY  O'CoNiioR,  S.J. 


189]  VARIOUS  ERRORS.  271 

put  into  form  a  large  body  of  propositions  on 
various  points  of  faith,  morals,  and  discipline, 
which  embodied  the  views  that  recommended 
themselves  to  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.,  brother  of 
Leopold,  and  defended  by  the  courtly  theologian, 
Hontheim,  who  published,  under  the  name  Febronius. 
These  were  condemned  in  the  Bull  Auctorem  Fidei, 
issued  in  1794,  in  which  Pope  Pius  VI.  condemned 
a  large  number  of  errors  which  had  been  taught 
at  Pistoia,  affixing  to  each  its  proper  censure. 
Among  the  rest,  the  I5th  (Denz.  1378)  denounces 
as  heretical  the  doctrine  that  none  belong  to  the 
Body  of  the  Church  except  the  faithful  who  are 
perfect  worshippers  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  seems  to  have  had  a  wise 
foresight  of  these  and  similar  errors :  for  in  his  book 
of  Spiritual  Exercises,  when  laying  down  rules  "  for 
maintaining  due  harmony  of  feeling  with  the  Church," 
he  gives  the  first  place  to  the  following :  "  Laying 
aside  all  judgment  of  our  own,  we  must  keep  out 
minds  prompt  and  ready  to  obey  in  all  things  the 
true  Spouse  of  Christ  our  Lord,  which  is  our  Holy 
Mother,  the  hierarchical  Church."  The  meaning 
of  this  epithet  is  that  our  obedience  is  due  not  to 
any  abstract  Church  of  our  own  imagining,  but  to 
the  Church  as  actually  represented  and  ruled  by 
the  men  who  compose  the  various  ranks  of  the 
Hierarchy  under  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  (See  Ferrusola, 
in  Exercitia,  p.  2,  sect.  7,  cap.  2.) 

190.  The  Predestined. — The  various  condemna- 
tions that  have  been  quoted  leave  no  doubt  as  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic.  Church :  persons  who 


27a  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [190 

are  not  Predestined  may  be  members  of  the  Body 
of  the  Church,  as  may  also  persons  who  are  in  the 
state  of  sin ;  and  there  may  be  persons  who  are 
Predestined,  or  who  are  Just,  who  do  not  belong 
to  this  Body.  As  already  explained,  both  these 
doctrines  follow  immediately  from  the  doctrine  that 
the  Church  is  Visible,  for  whether  each  particular 
man  is  Predestined  and  whether  he  is  at  each 
instant  Just,  are  secrets  known  to  God  alone.  But 
we  will  here  give  direct  proof  that  Predestination 
is  not  a  condition  of  membership,  and  in  the  next 
paragraph  speak  of  Sinners. 

The  point  must  be  settled  by  the  language  of 
Holy  Scripture,  and  this  language  puts  the  matter 
beyond  doubt.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  com- 
munities to  whom  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostles  were 
addressed  belonged  to  the  Body  of  the  Church. 
These  Epistles  are  full  of  expressions  of  the  writer's 
anxiety  lest  any  Christian  should  fail  to  live  up  to 
his  vocation.  St.  Paul  did  not  believe  that  his  own 
salvation  was  secure  unless  he  used  the  means 
needed  for  securing  it  (i  Cor.  ix.  27) ;  and  clear 
proof  must  be  given  before  we  can  believe  that 
Hymeneus  and  Alexander  were  among  the  Pre- 
destined, although  we  read  of  them  that  they  made 
shipwreck  concerning  the  faith,  and  were  delivered 
up  to  Satan  that  they  might  learn  not  to  blaspheme, 
(i  Timothy  i.  20.)  Whatever  may  be  the  exact 
meaning  of  this  phrase,  it  suggests  that  St.  Paul 
did  not  believe  that  these  men  were  among  the 
Predestinate ;  and  yet  they  had  been  members  of 
the  Church.  St.  Peter  knew  that  those  to  whom 


190]  THE  PREDESTINED.  273 

he  wrote  stood  in  need  of  fear  (i  St.  Peter  iii.  16), 
St.  John  knew  that  some  Antichrists  went  forth 
out  of  the  Christian  body,  (i  St.  John  ii.  19.)  It  is 
Christians  who  are  reminded  by  St.  James  (i.  15) 
that  sin  begetteth  death ;  and  St.  Jude  (verse  4) 
speaks  of  ungodly  men  who  secretly  entered  in  and 
despised  dominion.  All  this  is  inconsistent  with 
the  idea  that  all  the  members  of  the  Christian  com- 
munities were  necessarily  Predestined ;  nor,  on  the 
other  hand,  can  we  hold  that  all  the  Predestined 
are  Christians,  when  we  remember  that  Christian 
converts  came  in  from  the  ranks  of  the  Jews  and 
heathen  :  Predestination  belongs  to  the  Predestined 
man  throughout  his  existence,  before  his  conversion 
no  less  than  after. 

The  difficulties  that  are  urged  against  our 
doctrine,  from  Scripture  and  the  Fathers,  will  be 
considered  in  n.  192. 

191.  The  Just. — That  sinners  may  be  members 
of  the  Church  follows  from  the  parables  and 
figures  which  are  found  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew's  Gospel.  We  there  read  of  the  cockle 
that  was  sown  among  the  wheat,  and  which  sprang 
up  and  was  allowed  to  remain  until  the  end ;  and 
the  explanation  which  is  added  leaves  no  doubt  as 
to  who  are  represented  by  the  wheat  and  the  cockle. 
In  the  same  sense  we  read  that  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  like  to  a  net  which  gathers  all  kinds 
of  fishes,  good  and  bad,  and  retains  them,  till  it  is 
drawn  to  shore;  and  again  we  have  the  express 
declaration  that  this  means  how  at  the  end  of  the 
world,  but  not  till  then,  the  angels  shall  separate 
S  VOL.  I. 


•74  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [191 

the  wicked  from  among  the  just.  In  the  same 
St.  Matthew  (xviii.  17),  we  read  of  the  power  given 
to  the  rulers  of  the  Church  to  excommunicate  the 
obstinate  sinner ;  if  he  refuses  to  hear  the  Church 
he  is  to  be  as  the  heathen,  which  implies  that  up  to 
that  time  he  was  a  Christian,  in  spite  of  his  sin. 
St.  Paul  acted  on  the  power  thus  given  (i  Cor.  v), 
expressly  declaring  that  there  was  no  authority  in 
the  Church  to  judge  any  but  them  that  were  within; 
it  follows  that  the  sin  which  incurred  punishment 
did  not  of  itself  put  the  sinner  without  the  body  of 
the  Church. 

That  the  Fathers  held  our  doctrine  is  abundantly 
evident  from  the  whole  course  of  the  controversy 
with  the  Donatists.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  quote 
one  short  passage  from  St.  Augustine,  where  we  have 
a  formal  statement.  Commenting  on  the  Parable 
of  the  Marriage  Feast  (St.  Matt.  xxii.  I — 14),  and 
remarking  that  the  marriage  was  filled  with  guests, 
gathered  from  the  highways,  both  good  and  bad,  h> 
goes  on  :  "  Such  in  our  own  day  is  the  Church,  full 
of  good  and  bad."  (Serm.  250.  n.  2;  P.L.  39,  1164.) 
Also,  if  sinners  cannot  partake  in  the  privileges  that 
belong  to  members  of  the  Church,  it  is  impossible  to 
explain  the  existence  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance ; 
in  this  Sacrament  pardon  is  granted  to  souls  stained 
with  the  gravest  sins,  if  only  this  pardon  is  sought 
with  due  dispositions,  as  will  be  explained  when  we 
treat  of  this  Sacrament.  The  Sacraments  of  the 
Church  are  for  her  members.  Also  the  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass  is  daily  offered  for  all  the  faithful,  fo< 
the  remission  of  their  sins. 


IQ»]  DIFFICULTIES.  175 

192.  Difficulties. — The  objections  that  are  brought 
against  our  doctrine  are  multifarious,  and  we  cannot 
afford  space  to  go  fully  into  all.  They  will  be  found 
collected,  at  considerable  length  in  Dr.  Murray's 
very  learned  and  complete  work.  (Tractatus  de 
Ecclesia  Christi.)  This  writer  has  ransacked  the 
writings  of  Protestant  divines  (Disp.  iii.  sec.  3),  and 
sets  forth  their  arguments  in  their  own  words, 
adding  his  answers.  The  variety  of  form  which  can 
be  given  to  the  objections  is  very  great,  and  we 
can  do  no  more  than  deal  with  some  specimens 
belonging  to  different  classes,  with  our  replies. 

I.  The  argument  from  the  Parable  of  the  Cockle 
assumes  that  the  field  in  which  the  seed  is  sown  is 
the  Church ;  whereas  this  field  is  the  world,  as  we 
are  expressly  told.  (St.  Matt.  xiii.  38.)     I  reply  that 
the    crop    is   the    Church,    set   in   the    world    and 
comprising  both  wheat  and  cockle. 

II.  Though  some  of  the  Corinthians  were  for  a 
time  irregular  in  their  life,  yet  these  irregularities  did 
not   deprive   them   of  their    holiness,   for   St.  Paul 
addresses  them  as  saints.  (2  Cor.  i.   i.)     But,   he 
used  this   word   of  the  whole   community,  not  as 
necessarily   applicable  to   every   one ;    it  was  truly 
applicable  to  many. 

III.  Nothing  can  belong  to  the  Body  which  is 
not  under  the  influence  of  the  Soul ;  but  sinners  are 
not  members  of  the  Soul  of  the  Church.     I  reply 
that,  although  they  are  not  members  of  the   Soul 
in  the    full  sense,  yet   they  share  to    some    degree 
in    the    life    that    the    Soul     communicates.     (See 
n.  187.) 


276  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  (192 

IV.  Christ  is  the  Head  of  the  Church,  but  the 
Body  of    Christ   cannot   have    members   who    are 
members  of  Satan,  who  cannot  say,  "  Our  Father 
Who  art  in  Heaven."     The  reply  is  that  sinners  are 
not  altogether  cut  off  from  Christ,  if  they  retain  the 
faith,  and  these,  being  sons  although  undutiful,  can 
address  God  as  their  Father. 

V.  Arguments  are  drawn  from  the  very  obscure 
passages,   Ephes.  iv.  15 ;  Coloss.  ii.  19 ;  I  St.  Peter 
ii.  4;  for  the  development  of  which,  with  the  replies, 
recourse  must  be  had  to   Dr.  Murray  or  Cardinal 
Franzelin.  (De  Ecclesia,  440,  &c.)  The  scope  of  these 
passages  is  confessedly  not  clear;  and   it  is  a  sound 
rule  of  interpretation  that  obscure  phrases  must  be 
interpreted  by  what  is  clear,  not  conversely.     The 
passages  which  we  adduce  in  support  of  our  doctrine 
seem  clear. 

VI.  The  same  remark  must  be  made  concerning 
stray  passages  which  are  gathered  from  the  volumi- 
nous   works    of    St.  Augustine.      Those    who    are 
familiar  with  the  method  of  this  holy  Doctor  know 
that  he  frequently  speaks  of  things  according  to  the 
ideal  which  they  ought  to  attain,  and  not  according 
to  the  state  in  which  they  actually  are ;  also,  that 
in  his  controversial  writings,  it  is  often  difficult  to 
be  sure  how  far  he  is  speaking  according  to  the 
mind   of    his  adversary   rather   than   according  to 
his  own  ;  meeting  him  on  his  own  ground,  as  it  were. 
But  the  interpretation  of  St.  Augustine  is  a  work  for 
a  lifetime. 

.VII.  St.  Paul  frequently  uses  the  word  saint  or 
elect  as  equivalent  to  Christian.  (Romans  xvi.  15 ; 


19*]  DIFFICULTIES.  277 

2  Timothy  ii.  10.)  He  does  this  because  they  belong 
to  a  Church  which  is  holy  in  the  end  it  aims  at, 
the  means  it  uses,  and  in  the  doctrine  it  teaches ; 
also  in  the  holiness  of  many  of  its  members.  (See 
the  Sixth  Chapter  of  this  Treatise.) 

VIII.  Some   writers   have   thought   to   support 
their  cause  by  urging  that  if  there  be  one  sinner  in 
the  Church,  why  not  two,  and  three,  and  so  on,  till 
not  one  just  man  remained  ?    This  is  of  a  piece  with 
many  other  difficulties  against  the  Catholic  Church 
that  are  introduced  with  the  words  "  why  not  ? " 
The  answer  is  that  if  the  thing  in  question  would  be 
the  ruin  of  the  Church,  then  our  Lord's  promise 
(St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20)  to  be  with   His  Apostles  all 
days   is   our  reply  to  the   question   why  the  thing 
could  not  happen. 

IX.  Others  yet  more  weakly  urge  that  if  a  sinner 
be  a  member  of  the  Church  militant  on  earth  up  to 
the  moment  of  his  death,  then  he  must  needs  be 
a   member  of  the  Church  triumphant  in   Heaven, 
for  these  are  the  same  Church  in  different  states, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  death  to  destroy  Church- 
membership.     We  reply  that  the  crop  in  the  ground 
and  the  crop  in  the  barn  may  be  called  the  same 
crop,  but  in  different  states ;  but  we  read  that  the 
reapers   shall,  in   the  time   of  harvest,  gather  the 
cockle  and  bind  it  into  bundles  to  burn,  but  shall 
gather  the  wheat  into  the  barn.  (St.  Matt.  xiii.  30.) 

193.  Heresy. — Our  subject  may  be  illustrated  by 
a  few  words  concerning  the  Church-membership  of 
some  other  classes  of  persons ;  and  first  of  heretics. 
A  proposition  is  heretical  which  is  inconsistent  with 


*7t  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [193 

the  teaching  put  forward  by  the  Church  in  pursuance 
of  her  infallible  authority  as  being  part  of  the  Reve- 
lation which  she  has  received.  A  heretic  is  one  who, 
having  been  baptized,  holds  an  heretical  proposition. 
To  be  a  heretic  is  a  grave  misfortune,  whether  it  be 
accompanied  by  the  sin  of  heresy  or  not,  there  being 
no  sin  in  this  or  in  any  other  matter  without  a  wilful 
contempt  of  known  duty.  All  this  will  be  more  fully 
explained  in  the  Treatise  on  Faith  ;  meanwhile  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  an  open  heretic  is*  certainly  not 
a  member  of  the  Body  of  the  Church,  for  unity  in 
faith  is  one  of  the  properties  of  the  Church,  as  will 
be  seen  hereafter  (n.  220)  :  nor  does  it  matter 
whether  the  heresy  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
one  or  two  only,  or  whether  it  be  known  to. the 
whole  world.  One  who  is  inculpably  in  heresy  may 
belong  to  the  Soul  of  the  Church,  but  it  is  part  of 
his  misfortune  that  he  does  not  share  in  the  general 
suffrages  of  the  faithful  and  the  other  spiritual 
advantages  which  are  reserved  for  the  members  of 
the  Body.  As  to  any  whose  heresy  has  never  been 
manifested  outwardly,  Catholic  theologians  are  not 
agreed  whether  they  are  to  be  reckoned  as  belonging 
to  the  Body  of  the  Church.  It  is  certain  that  they 
are  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church,  and 
may  validly  exercise  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  if 
they  have  any  ;  but  the  same  is  true  of  open  heretics, 
so  that  the  question  cannot  be  considered  as  decided 
by  these  principles ;  there  has  been  no  clear  declara- 
tion upon  it  by  the  Church,  nor  do  the  Scripture  or 
the  Fathers  speak  decisively.  On  the  one  hand,  it 
is  said  that  he  who  has  abandoned  the  faith  has 


igjj  HERESY.  279 

broken  the  bond  that  united  him  to  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  but  it  replied  that  the  hidden  heretic 
retains  the  outward  profession  of  the  faith :  and  if 
Pope  Eugenius  IV.  (Denz.  599)  and  Pius  IX.  (Denz. 
1502),  when  putting  forward  definitions  of  faith, 
declare  that  all  who  think  otherwise  have  fallen  from 
the  Church,  it  is  clear  that  these  Pontiffs  had  no 
intention  of  settling  the  present  controversy.  The 
chief  argument  on  the  other  side  is  that  the  Visibility 
of  the  Church  is  impaired  if  any  one  is  excluded  for 
a  hidden  cause ;  to  which  it  is  answered  that  we 
have  solid  grounds  for  believing  that  secret  heresy 
will  never  exist  in  the  Church  except  in  a  very  few 
instances.  (See  n.  192,  VIII.)  The  opinion  that 
favours  the  membership  of  hidden  heretics  recom- 
mends itself  to  most  modern  writers.  (See  Murray, 
De  Ecclesia,  Disp.  iii.  sect.  5,  to  whose  list  should 
be  added  Mazzella,  De  Ecclesia,  d.  3,  a.  n,  and 
Palmieri,  De  Roman.  Pont.  Proleg.  n.)  On  the 
other  side  we  have  the  weighty  authority  of  Suarez 
and  Billuart. 

194.  Children  of  Heretics. — A  question  is  some- 
times mooted  concerning  the  children  of  heretics, 
but  it  seems  that  it  is  easily  answered  on  the  prin- 
ciples that  we  have  been  considering.  Every  infant 
becomes  by  Baptism  a  member  both  of  the  Soul 
of  the  Church  and  of  the  Body,  and  he  retains  this 
full  membership  until  he  do  something  to  destroy 
it.  If  in  the  course  of  years  he  come  to  hold 
heretical  doctrine,  however  inculpably,  and  avows 
it,  a  misfortune  befalls  him,  and  his  membership 
of  the  Body  of  the  Church  is  severed  ;  and  this 


t*a  TUB  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CHURCH  ftt 

is  probably  the  case  with  most  persons  who  are 
brought  up  in  heretical  communions.  Membership 
of  the  Soul  of  the  Church  is  lost  by  grievous  sin, 
and  by  this  alone,  (n.  184,  IV.) 

195.  Catechumens. — Catechumens,  or  persons  who 
have  not  been  baptized,  but  are  looking  forward  to 
receiving  Baptism,  and  meantime  are  going  through 
a  course  of  training,  certainly  do  not  belong  to  the 
Body  of  the  Church.     The  necessity  of  Baptism  as 
the   entrance   door  of  the    Church   was   shown    in 
n.  188 ;  and  we  may  add  that  the  same  doctrine  is 
taught   by  Pope    Eugenius   IV.  in  the  Council  of 
Florence  (Denz.  591)  and  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 
(Sess.  14,  cap.  2 ;   Denz.  775.)     The  prayer  of  the 
Church  for  catechumens  is  that  they  may  become  of 
the    number   of    her    members    (Service   for   Good 
Friday)  :  and  no  doubt  they  reap  spiritual  benefit 
from  their  imperfect  membership. 

The  difficulties  that  are  sometimes  raised  con- 
cerning the  necessity  of  Baptism  will  be  considered 
when  we  treat  of  that  Sacrament. 

196.  Excommunication. — Excommunication   is  a 
spiritual    punishment    sometimes    inflicted    by   the 
Church  on  one  guilty  of  grave  crimes,  for  the  good 
of  his  soul  or  in  vindication  of  the  law.     This  cen- 
sure deprives  the  person  who  has  incurred  it  of  the 
use  of  the  Sacraments,  of  a  share  in  public  suffrages, 
and    certain    other    spiritual    privileges  ;    and    this 
deprivation  endures  until  the  censure  is  relaxed  by 
competent  authority.      It  may  happen  that  it  has 
been  inflicted   unjustly,  for  the  human  judge  who 
deals  with  the  case  is  no  way  guaranteed  against 


ig6]  EXCOMMUNICATION.  281 

error :  or  it  may  be  that  the  censure  was  just,  but 
the  culprit  has  repented  of  his  sin  and  been  restored 
to  the  favour  of  God  before  he  has  procured  the 
relaxation  of  the  censure  ;  but  even  in  these  cases 
the  censure  produces  its  effects,  as  is  declared  in 
the  Bull  Unigenitus  (Prop,  gi ;  Denz.  1306)  against 
Quesnel ;  and  the  good  providence  of  God  can  be 
trusted  to  hinder  any  real  evil  befalling  him  who 
incurs  this  undeserved  loss.  Writers  differ  as  to 
whether  one  who  is  under  excommunication  can  be 
said  to  belong  to  the  Body  of  the  Church  :  the 
names  may  be  seen  in  Murray.  (De  Eccles.  Disp.  iii. 
sect.  8.) 

Excommunication  is  an  act  of  the  external  court 
of  the  Church,  dealing  directly  not  with  sin,  but 
with  crime.  The  full  discussion  of  its  nature 
and  varieties  belongs  to  Canon  Law.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  though  excommunication  is  not 
inflicted  except  in  cases  where  grievous  sin  has 
been  committed  or  is  supposed  to  have  been  com- 
mitted, yet  it  does  not  directly  affect  membership 
of  the  Soul  of  the  Church  :  nothing  but  real 
grievous  sin  takes  away  this  privilege  or  destroys 
the  hopes  founded  in  it.  (See  n.  187.) 

197.  Schism. — Schism  is  explained  by  St.  Thomas 
(Summa  Theol.  2.  2.  q.  39.  a.  i.)  to  be  the  act  of  one 
who  wilfully  withdraws  himself  from  the  obedience 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth, 
or  who  refuses  to  communicate  with  the  members 
of  the  Church  subject  to  him.  This  withdrawal 
may  be  culpable,  or  through  ignorance  it  may  be 
inculpable  ;  but  in  every  case,  one  who  has  with- 


28a  THE  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  (197 

drawn  can  no  longer  be  said  to  belong  to  the  Body 
of  the  Church.  This  subject  will  recur  when  we 
speak  of  the  unity  of  Government  in  the  Church, 
(n.  224.) 

198.  Recapitulation.  —  In  this  chapter  we  have 
seen  that  they  are  members  of  the  Soul  of  the 
Church  who,  having  been  justified,  have  not  subse- 
quently incurred  the  guilt  of  mortal  sin  ;  that 
Baptism,  profession  of  the  true  faith,  and  com- 
munion with  the  Head  and  other  members  of  the 
Church  constitutes  membership  of  the  Body,  so 
that  the  Body  may  be  at  once  wider  and  narrower 
than  the  Soul ;  and  we  have  dealt  with  certain 
•iifficulties  and  doubts  that  are  raised  on  this 
traoject. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONSTITUTION   AND   POWERS   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

199.  Subject  of  Chapter.  —  In   this   chapter   we 
shall  show  that  the  Church  is  not  a  society  all  the 
members  of  which   are  on   an  equal  footing,  who 
arrange    among    themselves    such    distribution    of 
offices  as  convenience  may  suggest ;  but  that  there 
is   in   it   by   Divine   institution   a   certain   form   of 
government,  and  that  they  who  share  in  the  powers 
of   this    government    owe    their    authority   to    the 
Founder,  Christ,  and  not  to  appointment  by  those 
whom   they   govern.      It   will   be   shown   that   the 
powers  of  this  government  fall  into  three  divisions, 
and  particulars  will  be  given  as  to  one  of  these :  the 
other  two  do  not  fall  within  the  present  Treatise. 

The  form  of  government  established  by  Christ 
in  the  Church  is  monarchical,  the  Roman  Pontiff 
being  the  Monarch  ;  but  this  is  a  matter  of  so  great 
importance  that  it  will  be  convenient  to  reserve  it 
for  our  next  Treatise. 

200.  Governors  and  Governed. — Every  society  or 
collection  of  men,  banded  together  for  some  parti- 
cular  purpose,    must    have    some    arrangement    to 
secure  that  the  members  of  the  society  so  behave 
as  to  forward  this  purpose  and  not  to  frustrate  it. 


284      CONSTITUTION  *  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.    [JOG 

If  there  be  no  such  organization,  nothing  short  of  a 
perpetual  miracle  could  so  control  the  free-will  of 
men  as  to  save  the  society  from  failure  in  its  object. 
The  Church  is  no  exception  to  this  rule,  and  it 
would  be  unable  to  do  its  office  of  continuing  the 
work  of  King,  Priest,  and  Prophet  that  Christ  came 
on  earth  to  do,  except  there  were  some  distinction 
of  governors  and  governed  :  some  members  of  the 
Church  whose  business  was  to  direct  others.  This 
is  implied  in  the  figures  of  a  Kingdom  and  a  Body, 
which,  as  we  have  seen  (n.  185),  are  used  to  repre- 
sent the  Church,  and  the  idea  is  drawn  out  fully  by 
St.  Paul  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians.  Also,  we  find  the  system  in 
full  operation  from  the  beginning,  for  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  and  the  Epistles  we  constantly  read 
of  Apostles,  Deacons,  Prophets,  Bishops,  Ancients, 
Priests,  Angels.  We  are  not  now  concerned  with 
the  nature  of  the  offices  denoted  by  these  words  or 
with  the  distinctions  among  them  ;  their  existence 
is  beyond  doubt,  nor  will  it  be  denied  that  similar 
arrangements  prevailed  in  post-Apostolic  times,  and 
continue  to  the  present  day. 

201.  The  Protestant  Views. — All  the  prominent 
sects  of  Protestants  agree  with  Catholics  in  recog- 
nizing the  necessity  of  some  religious  organization 
among  Christians ;  but  they  differ  in  the  names 
they  give  to  their  officials,  and  the  extent  of  their 
jurisdiction.  Some  are  governed  by  Shepherds,  a 
name  which  does  not  occur  in  the  Scripture ;  but 
most  prefer  to  select  one  or  more  of  the  names  just 
quoted  from  the  New  Testament.  Thus,  in  the 


201]  THE  PROTESTANT   VIEWS.  a85 

Established  Church  of  England,  with  the  kindred 
communions,  we  find  the  name  of  Bishops,  and 
this  name  is  also  used  by  some  of  the  Lutherans 
of  the  Continent  and  by  certain  branches  of  the 
Methodists.  These  Bishops  rule  a  district  con- 
taining many  congregations.  Other  sects  follow 
the  "  Presbyterian  "  model,  where  power  is  not 
confided  to.  any  individual,  but  is  exercised  by  a 
representative  assembly  of  "Elders"  elected  by 
each  congregation  :  the  word  "  Presbyter  "  having, 
according  to  them,  the  same  meaning  as  "  Elder." 
In  others,  again,  there  is  no  bond  of  common 
government  uniting  the  distinct  congregations,  but 
each  is  "  independent,"  and  the  "  Elders "  who 
manage  its  affairs  have  no  authority  elsewhere.  The 
"  Elders  "  are  commonly  elected  by  the  "  Church." 
The  varieties  of  detail  are  endless  ;  but,  with  the 
exception  of  some  schools  among  the  members  of 
the  Established  Church,  all  agree  in  regarding  the 
office-holders  as  the  servants  and  not  the  masters 
of  the  community  by  whom  they  have  been  chosen. 
The  sense  in  which  the  word  "church"  has  just 
been  used  has  been  already  explained,  (n.  164.) 

202.  Source  of  Authority. — In  opposition  to  all 
these,  the  Catholic  Church  holds  that  Christ  Himself 
established  a  Hierarchy,  or  sacred  form  of  govern- 
ment, which  is  essentially  necessary  to  the  existence 
of  His  Church.  This  doctrine  is  of  faith,  for  the 
note  of  heresy  attaches  to  the  view  put  forward  by 
the  Council  of  Pistoia,  to  the  effect  that  power  to 
minister  and  rule  flows  to  the  pastors  of  the  Church 
from  the  body  of  the  faithful.  (Auctorem  Fidei,  2; 


a86      CONSTITUTION  <S-  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [20* 

Denz.  1365) ;  and  the  Bull  Unigenitus  condemned 
the  teaching  of  Quesnel  that  the  power  of  excom- 
munication is  exercised  by  tha  leading  (or  first) 
pastors,  by  the  presumed  consent  of  the  whole 
body.  (n.  go ;  Denz.  1305.) 

The  proof  of  our  doctrine  is  taken  from  the 
Holy  Scripture,  and  first  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  We  there  read  that  it  was  witnesses 
preordained  of  God  that  were  commanded  to 
preach  (x.  41,  42) ;  that  St.  Paul  and  St.  Barnabas, 
acting  with  the  authority  of  Apostles,  ordained 
Priests  in  every  Church  (xiv.  22) ;  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  placed  certain  men  as  Bishops  to  rule  the 
Church  of  God.  (xx.  28.)  Further,  we  read  in  the 
Epistles  that  God  set  some  in  the  Church  to  be 
Apostles  and  for  other  functions  (i  Cor.  xii.  28-; 
Ephes.  iv.  n)  ;  and  lastly,  that  St.  Paul  left  St. 
Titus  in  Crete  that  he  should  set  in  order  the  things 
that  were  wanting,  and  ordain  priests  in  every  city. 
(Titus  i.  5.)  In  all  this,  the  work  of  government 
is  done  by  men  appointed  by  Christ  or  by  His 
authority  ;  there  is  not  a  trace  of  power  being 
received  by  way  of  communication  from  the  body 
of  the  faithful ;  nor  is  there  any  indication  that  the 
arrangement  that  we  see  in  working  order,  with 
provision  for  its  continuance,  was  intended  to  last 
for  a  time  only,  and  to  be  replaced  by  a  totally 
different  scheme  of  government. 

There  are  certain  texts  from  which  some  diffi- 
culties are  raised  against  our  doctrine  (See  Isaias 
liv.  13  ;  St.  Jerem.  xxxi.  34  ;  St.  John  x.  27  ;  St.  James 
i.  5;  I  St.  John  ii.  20) ;  but  we  remark  (i)  that  the 


202]  SOURCE  OF  AUTHORITY.  287 

Protestant  interpretation  of  these  texts  is  new, 
having  no  sanction  in  the  older  commentators ; 
(2)  that  the  texts  were  well-known  to  all  concerned 
during  many  centuries,  during  which  the  Catholic 
doctrine  was  received  unhesitatingly ;  (3)  that  this 
interpretation  makes  the  Scripture  self-contra- 
dictory, for  the  texts  which  we  have  adduced  prove 
our  doctrine  plainly;  (4)  that  it  is  an  unsound 
method  to  interpret  the  clear  by  the  light  of  the 
obscure;  (5)  that  God  is  t'.ie  First  Cause  of  all 
things,  and  is  often  said  in  Scripture  to  do  that 
which  is  really  the  effect  of  second  causes ;  see, 
for  instance,  the  I46th  Psalm  with  its  sequel,  the 
I47th,  where  God  is  said  to  build  Jerusalem,  to 
cover  the  heaven  with  clouds,  to  fill  His  people 
with  the  fat  of  corn :  all  which  effects  came  imme- 
diately from  second  causes,  acting  in  virtue  of  the 
power  and  under  the  direction  of  the  First  Cause : 
(6)  that  often,  in  Scripture,  after  the  word  "  not " 
we  must  understand  "only,"  and  after  "but"  we 
must  supply  "chiefly."  (e.g.,  St.  Luke  xiv.  12,  13.) 
The  application  of  these  principles  to  the  texts 
cited  is  easy. 

203.  Authority  to  Teach. — It  is  usual  with  theo- 
logians to  distinguish  a  three-fold  office  in  Christ, 
for  He  is  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King.  This  distinc- 
tion has  abundant  basis  in  Scripture  (see  Deut. 
xviii.  15;  Hebrews  vii.  26;  Zach.  ix.  9);  and  we 
shall  find  it  convenient  to  follow,  for  the  same 
offices  are  continually  exercised  on  earth  by  the 
Church.  The  Church  shares  the  kingship  of  Christ 
in  the  independence  of  all  earthly  control  which  is 


•88      CONSTITUTION  *  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.    [203 

her  due,  and  which  has  been  asserted  by  so  many 
holy  Pontiffs  and  Bishops  who  have  suffered  and 
still  suffer  obloquy,  exile  and  death  itself  rather 
than  surrender  any  part  of  the  rights  of  the  Church 
at  the  bidding  of  emperor  or  popular  assembly. 
The  reason  of  this  independence  is  that  the  end 
for  which  God  established  the  Church,  namely,  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  men,  is  not  included  in  the  end 
for  which  the  same  God  established  civil  society, 
which  is  their  temporal  welfare.  In  virtue  of  this 
kingship,  the  Church  has  authority  to  make  laws 
for  the  guidance  of  all  who  have  become  her 
subjects  by  receiving  Baptism :  nor  can  these  free 
themselves  from  this  subjection  by  any  act  of  their 
own.  The  legislative  power  implies  the  power  to 
pronounce  judgment  in  cases  of  alleged  breach  of 
the  law  and  to  coerce  the  contumacious.  That  the 
Church  possesses  these  powers  is  unchangeable 
doctrine :  the  mode  of  applying  them  belongs  to 
changeable  discipline,  which  varies  with  every 
variation  in  time,  place,  or  circumstance.  But  the 
full  discussion  of  all  that  belongs  to  the  kingship 
of  the  Church  belongs  to  the  canonists  when  they 
treat  of  public  canon  law.  (See,  for  example,  Bouix, 
De  Papa.) 

The  priestly  function  of  Christ  is  exercised  by 
the  Church  in  virtue  of  the  Sacrament  of  Order, 
with  which  she  has  been  entrusted.  This  Sacra- 
ment will  be  treated  in  its  place. 

The  Prophetical  or  teaching  office  committed  by 
Christ  to  His  Church  finds  its  proper  place  in  the 
present  Treatise,  and  we  proceed  to  show  that  there 


203]  AUTHORITY  TO  TEACH.  289 

is  in  the  Church  authority  to  teach.  We  have  seen 
in  the  last  section,  that  there  is  in  the  Church,  by 
Divine  institution,  a  distinction  of  governors  and 
governed,  and  there  being  authority  to  teach,  it  is 
consistent  that  the  governors  are  they  who  teach 
the  governed,  and  thus  we  have  the  distinction  of 
the  Church  as  Teacher  and  the  Church  as  Learner. 
We  shall  see  in  its  proper  place  (n.  208)  that  the 
Church  as  Teacher  is  constituted  by  the  Bishops 
united  with  the  Roman  Pontiff.  At  present,  it  will 
suffice  if  we  speak  of  teachers,  without  defining 
more  particularly  who  they  are. 

That  the  Church  has  authority  to  teach  follows 
from  what  we  have  said  upon  her  nature  and  office. 
For  the  Church  is  the  company  of  believers  in 
Christ  (n.  166),  and  faith  comes  by  hearing 
(Romans  x.  14,  17) ;  and  there  is  to  be  one  faith 
even  as  there  is  one  Lord  and  one  Baptism  (Ephes. 
iv.  5),  which  oneness  of  belief  cannot  be  secured 
unless  there  is  a  judge  of  controversies  who  speaks 
intelligibly  and  whom  all  may  obey  :  but  this  judge 
cannot  be  the  reason  of  each  man  which  is  weak 
and  variable  and  has  no  binding  force  on  the  multi- 
tude :  nor  is  it  the  Christian  people  at  large,  for  we 
nowhere  find  that  such  power  has  been  given  to 
them  as  the  Apostles  claimed  for  themselves  (see 
especially  I  Cor.  ix.  I,  Ephes.  ii.  20) :  nor  the  head 
of  the  civil  state,  who  has  his  own  functions,  but  is 
within  the  Church  as  a  Learner;  nor,  lastly,  does 
it  please  God  to  settle  controversies  by  revelations 
(n.  112),  except  perhaps  by  private  revelations  that 
avail  no  one  but  the  receiver,  (n.  22.)  The  Scripture 
T  VOL.  I. 


•go      CONSTITUTION  6-  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [203 

is  dead  and  cannot  make  its  voice  heard,  and  those 
who  profess  to  be  its  expounders  are  at  variance : 
there  is  no  living  voice  but  that  of  the  Church  that 
can  be  the  judge  of  whose  existence  we  are  assured. 

This  office  of  Teacher  is  exercised  by  the  Church 
when  the  Supreme  Pontiff  addresses  the  whole 
Christian  people  by  an  Encyclical  or  otherwise ; 
when  a  Bishop  sends  a  pastoral  to  his  flock,  when 
the  parish  priest  expounds  the  Gospel ;  in  some 
sort,  even  when  parents  teach  their  children  to 
pray,  or  when  catechism  is  explained  in  the  schools. 
And  although  certain  portions  of  the  teaching  thus 
given,  whether  the  teacher  act  by  his  own  authority 
or  by  delegation  from  another,  may  be  unsound,  yet 
the  promise  of  Christ  that  He  will  be  with  His 
Church  all  day  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20)  assures  us  that 
the  Learners  will  never,  as  a  whole,  fall  away  from 
the  true  faith. 

It  belongs  to  the  Teaching  Church  to  note  and 
condemn  false  doctrines  as  they  are  put  forward: 
to  take  proper  precautions  to  prevent  the  publica- 
tion of  books  which  will  be  harmful :  and  to  con- 
demn injurious  books  which  appear  in  spite  of  these 
precautions.  It  does  not  belong  to  us  to  describe 
the  mode  and  limitations  under  which  these  powers 
are  exercised :  we  will  only  remark  that  an  approba- 
tion of  a  book  by  an  ecclesiastical  authority  is  quite 
consistent  with  a  subsequent  condemnation  of  the 
same  book  by  the  same  authority,  if  further  exami- 
nation shows  that  what  had  been  supposed  to  be 
harmless  was  really  harmful :  and  that  books  are 
condemned  not  merely  because  they  contain  false 


aoj)  AUTHORITY  TO  TEACH.  291 

doctrine,  but  sometimes  because  their  publication  is 
judged  to  be  inexpedient  on  other  grounds. 

The  earliest  case  of  the  condemnation  of  a  book 
by  Church  authority  seems  to  be  the  case  of  the 
Thalia  of  the  heretic  Arius,  which  was  condemned 
by  the  Council  of  Nice  in  325.  In  this  work,  the 
author's  views  that  the  Word  of  God  was  a  creature 
were  "  set  forth  in  a  loose,  free  style,  reminding  one 
of  the  works  of  Sotades"  (Socrates,  H.E.  i.  9;  P.G. 
67,  84.)  The  name  of  this  Sotades,  who  was  living 
in  280  B.C.,  became  a  proverb  among  the  heathen 
for  all  that  is  filthy,  and  the  writer  in  Dr.  Smith's 
Dictionary  says  that  he  "  carried  his  lascivious  and 
abusive  satires  to  the  utmost  lengths."  Few  will 
deny  that  the  Council  did  well  to  condemn  a  book 
which  treated  of  the  most  august  mysteries  of 
religion  in  a  style  which  can  be  thus  described. 

Besides  all  this,  it  is  a  part  of  the  work  of 
teaching  to  sanction  and  regulate  the  prayers  and 
other  devotions  of  the  Christian  people. 

204.  The  Protestant  System. — That  the  Church 
has  authority  to  teach  is  admitted  probably  by  all 
Protestants  who  hold  that  there  is  a  visible  Church 
in  the  world ;  but  they  do  not  admit  that  this  teach- 
ing is  infallible,  and  we  need  not  be  surprised  that 
there  is  a  want  of  distinctness  in  their  utterances 
on  the  subject.  It  does  not  concern  us  to  discuss 
what  is  precisely  held  by  them ;  but  before  we  go 
on  to  establish  the  infallibility  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  as  we  shall  do  in  the  next  section,  it  may 
be  worth  while  to  set  forth  the  teaching  of  the 
Established  Church  of  England  on  the  subject. 


19*      CONSTITUTION  6-  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.    [204 

This  is  contained  with  much  else  in  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  which  are  accepted  by  all  ministers 
of  the  Establishment,  the  acceptance  being  renewed 
at  each  step  in  their  profession.  Three  of  these 
run  as  follows : 

XIX.  Of   the  Church.— The  visible   Church  of 
Christ   is   a   congregation   of  faithful   men,  in  the 
which  the  pure  Word  of  God  is  preached  and  the 
sacraments    be    duly    administered    according    to 
Christ's    ordinance,    in    all    those    things  that    of 
necessity  are  requisite  to  the  same. 

As  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  and 
Antioch  have  erred,  so  also  the  Church  of  Rome 
has  erred,  not  only  in  their  living  and  manner  of 
ceremonies,  but  also  in  matters  of  faith. 

XX.  Of  the  Authority  of  the  Church.— The  Church 
hath    power  to    decree    rites    or  ceremonies   and 
authority  in   matters  of  faith.     And  yet  it  is  not 
lawful  for  the  Church  to  ordain  anything  that  is 
contrary  to  God's  Word  written ;    neither  may  it 
so  expound  one  place  of  Scripture  that  it  be  repug- 
nant to  another.     Wherefore,  although  the  Church 
be  a  witness  and  keeper  of  Holy  Writ,  yet,  as  it 
ought  not  to  decree  anything  against  the  same,  so 
besides  the  same  ought  it  not  to  enforce  anything 
to  be  believed  for  necessity  of  salvation. 

XXI.  Of   the  Authority   of   General  Councils.— 
General    Councils   may   not   be   gathered   together 
without  the  commandment  and  will  of  princes.  And 
when  they  be  gathered  together  (forasmuch  as  they 
be  an  assembly  of  men  whereof  all  be  not  governed 
with  the  Spirit  and  Word  of  Gcd),  they  may  err, 


THE  PROTESTANT  SYSTEM.  293 

and  sometimes  have  erred,  even  in  things  pertaining 
unto  God.  Wherefore,  things  ordained  by  them  as 
necessary  to  salvation,  have  neither  strength  nor 
authority,  unless  it  may  be  declared  that  they  are 
taken  out  of  Holy  Scripture. 

These  vague  and  self-contradictory  Articles  will 
plainly  admit  of  being  interpreted  so  as  to  be  made 
consistent  with  almost  any  possible  view  on  the 
matters  of  which  they  treat ;  except  that  they  seem 
to  exclude  the  notion  that  there  is  on  earth  any 
living  voice  or  collection  of  living  voices  whose 
utterance  on  matters  of  faith  is  absolutely  trust- 
worthy on  account  of  a  Divine  guarantee  that  they 
shall  never  err :  according  to  the  Articles,  the  utter- 
ance of  the  living  voice  can  do  no  more  than  suggest 
an  inquiry  as  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture  upon  the 
point ;  and  in  the  absence  of  any  indication  to  the 
contrary  it  would  seem  that  this  inquiry  is  to  be 
conducted  by  each  private  man  on  his  own  account 
and  with  the  resources  at  his  command.  The 
function  of  the  Church  as  represented  by  the 
Article  would  seem  to  be  like  that  of  St.  Paul  when 
dealing  with  the  Jewish  inquirers  at  Beroea.  (Acts 
xvii.  10 — 12.)  The  Apostle  pointed  out  to  his  hearers 
in  the  Synagogue  the  places  in  the  Old  Testament 
which  proved  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  and  they 
are  praised  for  verifying  his  references  and  con- 
sidering the  interpretations  that  he  proposed.  The 
result  was  that  they  believed  and  doubtless  were 
baptized,  and  in  enjoining  Baptism,  St.  Paul  en- 
forced something  to  be  believed  for  necessity  of 
salvation  besides  what  was  in  Scripture,  for  the 


194      CONSTITUTION  &  PC  WERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [204 

Old  Testament  is  silent  on  the  subject  and  the  New 
did  not  yet  exist :  that  is  to  say,  St.  Paul  did  not 
act  on  the  principle  of  the  Articles,  proposing  his 
teaching  as  something  tc  be  tested  by  Scripture,  but 
he  proposed  it  by  his  cwn  authority,  having  pre- 
viously satisfied  his  hearers  that  what  he  taught 
came  to  them  with  the  authority  of  God  Himself: 
that  is  to  say,  his  position  was  the  position  taken  by 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  by  it  alcne,  at  the  present 
day.  (See  n.  89.) 

205.  The  Church  Infallible. — That  the  Catholic 
Church  claims  not  merely  to  have  received  a  com- 
mission to  teach,  but  also  to  be  divinely  guaranteed 
from  error,  will  not  be  seriously  denied  by  any  one, 
in  spite  of  its  being  true  that  no  express  definition 
has  been  made  upon  the  subject.  There  are  other 
ways  beside  express  declaration  by  which  the  mind 
of  a  society,  no  less  than  that  of  an  individual,  can 
be  manifested :  a  declaration  is  implied  as  often  as 
conduct  is  adopted  which  cannot  be  explained 
except  upon  the  understanding  that  the  matter  is  as 
supposed.  Parliament  has  never  expressly  declared 
its  own  competence  to  legislate ;  and  if  such  a 
declaration  were  made  it  would  itself  be  a  piece 
of  legislation,  the  authority  of  which  would  be 
admitted  by  no  man  who  was  not  already  prepared 
to  admit  the  legislative  power  of  Parliament.  But 
the  declaration  is  implied  in  every  statute  which 
speaks  imperatively,  and  in  fitting  cases  imposes 
penalties  and  even  death ;  while  no  word  is  found 
that  implies  any  doubt  upon  the  subject. 

In  like  manner,  the  Church  has  never  indicated 


THE  CHURCH  INFALLIBLE.  195 

that  she  entertains  the  slightest  doubt  of  her  own 
infallibility ;  and  she  has  used  expressions  that  are 
inconsistent  with  the  notion  that  she  is  capable  of 
error  in  her  teaching.  Thus  the  Synod  of  Pistoia 
(see  n.  182)  taught  that  in  these  latter  times  a 
general  obscuration  has  come  on  touching  religion 
and  the  bases  of  faith  and  morals ;  and  this  doctrine 
is  condemned  by  Pope  Pius  VI.  as  heretical.  (Auc- 
torem  Fidei,  prop,  i ;  Denz.  1364.)  And  the  Vatican 
Council  (Sess.  4,  cap.  4 ;  Denz.  1682),  while  clearly 
defining  the  infallibility  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
found  no  better  way  to  express  the  doctrine  than  by 
saying  that  he  enjoys  the  same  infallibility  as  that 
with  which  our  Divine  Saviour  has  been  pleased 
to  endow  His  Church.  The  same  follows  from  the 
strong  terms  in  which  all  are  condemned  who  refuse 
to  accept  any  part  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church, 
as  may  be  seen  in  most  of  the  dogmatic  decrees  in 
Denzinger ;  this  language  would  not  be  used  by  one 
who  felt  conscious  that  an  appeal  to  Scripture  or  to 
some  other  authority  might  after  all  show  that  those 
who  were  condemned  were  really  in  the  right.  (See 
Denzinger,  n.  I,  375, 1683,  et  alibi  passim.')  We  must 
not  be  supposed  to  maintain  that  because  the  Church 
claims  Infallibility  therefore  she  is  infallible.  None 
but  the  Divine  Founder  could  give  this  gift,  and  we 
must  look  to  His  recorded  words  for  the  proof  that 
He  has  given  it.  Words  to  this  effect  are  found  in 
two  places  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  (xvi.  18  and  xxviii. 
20)  and  in  one  of  St.  John  (xvi.  16 — 20),  to  which 
may  be  added  the  expression  used  by  St.  Paul  in  his 
First  Epistle  to  St.  Timothy,  (iii.  14,  15.)  We  will 


*g6     CONSTITUTION  «•  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH,     [ao; 

shortly  discuss  these  in  order,  and  in  a  future  para- 
graph (n.  207)  notice  the  chief  heads  of  objection  that 
are  brought  against  this  fundamental  point  of  our 
doctrine  and  its  proof;  but  first  we  must  make  a 
remark  upon  a  difficulty  which  sometimes  imposes 
on  the  unthinking;  it  is  said  that  we  have  no  right 
to  use  the  Scripture  to  prove  the  Church,  for  we 
have  already  maintained  (n.  150)  that  we  need  the 
Church  to  prove  the  Scriptures.  The  answer  is 
short:  we  use  the  Church'  to  prove  that  the 
Scriptures  are  the  inspired  Word  of  God  ;  and  we 
prove  the  Church  by  the  Scriptures  regarded  as 
trustworthy  human  histories ;  and  so  to  the  vaunted 
vicious  circle  which  even  a  writer  like  Burnet,  for 
many  years  the  standard  authority  (On  the  Articles, 
xlx.),  was  not  ashamed  to  use,  turns  out  to  be  a 
pointless  shaft.  We  have  therefore  a  right  to  quote 
St.  Matthew  and  the  rest. 

206.  Proofs  of  Infallibility.— I.  St.  Matt.  xvi.  18. 
Christ  addressed  St.  Peter,  "  I  say  unto  thee,  that 
thou  art  Peter  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My 
Church,  and  the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it."  We  are  not  here  concerned  with  the 
address  to  St.  Peter,  nor  with  any  question  as  to 
what  was  the  Rock  on  which  the  Church  was  to  be 
built ;  these  matters  will  come  before  us  again  when 
we  treat  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  (n.  274.)  We  need 
only  observe  that  to  build  upon  a  rock  certainly 
implies  the  stability  of  the  building  (St.  Matt.  vii.  24), 
and  that  "gates"  are  often  used  for  the  seat  of 
power  and  government  (Psalm  cxxvi.  5 ;  Isaias  xxxviii. 
10),  much  as  we  say  "  the  Court."  We  have  then  the 


ao6]  PROOFS  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  297 

assurance  that  the  Church  is  like  a  city  which  is 
firmly  built  and  which  may  be  besieged  by  the 
enemy  but  will  never  be  captured,  for  God  Himself 
is  vigilant  in  the  defence.  (Psalm  cxxvi.  i.)  The 
enemy  is  the  lord  of  Hell,  Satan ;  and  if  he  could 
succeed  in  seducing  the  Church,  which  is  put  on 
earth  to  witness  to  the  truth  of  God  and  teach  it, 
and  leading  it  to  falsehood,  then  it  must  be  admitted 
that  he  has  been  successful  in  overthrowing  the  firm 
walls,  and  destroying  the  city.  The  testimonies  of 
the  Fathers,  showing  the  sense  they  put  on  this  and 
the  following  texts,  will  be  found  in  Waterworth's 
Faith  of  Catholics,  or  in  the  Commentators,  and  it  is 
needless  to  copy  them  into  these  pages. 

II.  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  Christ,  when  on  the 
point  of  leaving  this  earth,  addressed  His  Apostles, 
"  Teaching  them  [all  nations]  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and  behold,  I 
am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  consummation  of 
*he  world." 

On  this  text  we  have  first  to  consider  the  force 
of  the  words,  "  be  with  you."  The  phrase  is  of 
very  frequent  occurrence  in  Scriptures,  and  Dr. 
Murray  (De  Ecclesia,  Disp.  xi.  sect.  ii.  nn.  66 — 70) 
has  collectecj  no  less  than  ninety  places  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  where  it  occurs,  and  by  com- 
paring these  its  exact  force  can  be  determined  with 
safety.  Only  a  few  specimens  can  be  referred  to 
in  these  pages.  Sometimes,  as  in  our  text,  God 
promises  to  be  "  with  "  a  person  while  engaged  on 
some  work,  and  this  implies  that  the  work  will 
certainly  be  performed  (Josue  i.  5; ;  sometimes  we 


298      CONSTITUTION  6-  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [206 

have  statement  that  God  is  "  with  "  some  one,  and 
this  implies  a  conviction  that  he  will  succeed  in  his 
undertaking  (Genesis  xxxix.  2) ;  or  prayer  is  made 
to  God  that  He  will  be  "with"  a  certain  person,  to 
secure  him  success  (Romans  xv.  33) ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  the  negative  form  that  God  is  "  not 
with  "  a  person  is  equivalent  to  an  assertion  that  he 
will  fail.  (Numbers  xiv.  42.)  This  usage  is  absolutely 
unbroken,  there  not  being  a  single  text  to  which  a 
contrary  meaning  can  be  given,  and  there  being  one 
only  which  can  even  be  considered  neutral  (Ruth 
ii.  4),  where  the  words,  "  The  Lord  be  with  you," 
may  be  regarded  as  a  common  form  of  salutation, 
without  any  definite  force  as  a  prayer.  From  this 
usage  we  conclude  that  the  persons  addressed 
in  the  text  would  be  successful  in  their  work  of 
teaching,  which  success  is  inconsistent  with  their 
teaching  error. 

A  further  question  remains  as  to  the  duration  of 
this  assistance ;  in  other  words,  as  to  what  is  meant 
by  the  words  translated  "  the  consummation  of  the 
world."  Some  have  attempted  to  cut  down  the 
word  represented  by  "  world "  to  the  lifetime  of 
the  Apostles.  But  there  is  nothing  to  suggest 
such  a  limitation,  which  is  contrary  to  the  usage  of 
the  same  St.  Matthew,  in  places  (xiii.  39,  40,  49 ; 
xxiv.  3)  where  the  very  same  words  are  employed 
and  where  the  meaning  is  unmistakeable.  We 
decline,  therefore,  to  believe  that  there  was  to  be 
an  infallible  living  voice  on  earth  for  a  few  years 
after  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  and  that  then,  on 
the  death  of  an  old  man,  the  whole  economy  of  the 


ao6J  PROOFS  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  299 

Church  was  to  be  suddenly  changed,  and  a  new 
method  of  ascertaining  truth  to  be  substituted  ;  and 
that  this  fundamental  change  was  to  come  about 
without  a  hint  of  anything  of  the  sort  being  given  in 
the  records  of  Revelation. 

III.  St.  John  xiv.  16 — 26.  Christ  addresses  His 
Apostles  for  the  last  time  before  His  Death.  The 
whole  passage  may  be  referred  to,  but  it  will  be 
enough  to  give  the  commencement  and  the  close. 
"  I  shall  ask  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you 
another  Paraclete,  that  He  may  abide  with  you  for 
ever,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  Whom  the  world  cannot 
receive,  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  nor  knoweth 
Him ;  but  you  shall  know  Him  because  He  shall 
abide  with  you  and  shall  be  in  you.  ...  The 
Paraclete  Whom  the  Father  shall  send  in  My 
Name,  He  will  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all 
things  to  your  mind  whatsoever  I  shall  have  said  to 
you." 

Here  we  have  the  promise  of  some  gift — the 
nature  of  which  does  not  concern  us  in  this  place — 
the  possessors  of  which  gift  will  not  be  liable  to 
error  as  to  the  doctrine  which  Christ  taught.  This 
promise  is  made  immediately  to  the  Apostles,  but 
the  gift  is  to  remain  with  them  "  for  ever,"  a  phrase 
which  there  is  no  reason  to  cut  down  to  anything 
less  than  its  popular  meaning;  and  it  is  given  to 
them,  as  opposed  to  the  world,  for  the  world  cannot 
receive  it,  which  word  "  world  "  is  repeatedly  used 
by  our  Lord  for  all  who  do  not  believe  in  Him. 
(St.  John  xv.  19 ;  xvii.  9,  25,  &c.)  It  follows  that 
the  believers  in  Christ  will  be  collectively  preserved 


yx>      CONSTITUTION  &  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [206 

for  ever  from  error  as  to  His  doctrine ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  Church  is  infallible  in  teaching. 

IV.  i  Timothy  iii.  14,  15.  St.  Paul  writes  to 
St.  Timothy :  "  These  things  I  write  to  thee,  hoping 
that  I  shall  come  to  thee  shortly.  But  if  I  tarry 
long,  that  thou  mayest  know  how  thou  oughtest 
to  behave  thyself  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the 
Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth." 

In  the  following  verse  the  Apostle  sums  up  the 
chief  heads  of  Christian  doctrine.  Here  the  Church 
is  distinctly  called  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth, 
for  the  Greek  original  will  not  allow  these  words  to 
be  applied  to  God  only,  as  the  reader  of  the  English 
version  might  incline  to  think  possible.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  prove  that  the  figure  of  a  pillar  implies 
unshaken  firmness,  but  Scripture  authority  is  forth- 
coming if  wanted,  as  when  God  made  the  Prophet 
Jeremias  a  fortified  city  and  a  pillar  of  iron  and  a 
wall  of  brass.  (Jerem.  i.  18 ;  see  also  Apoc.  iii.  12.) 
These  three  equivalent  figures  cannot  be  misunder- 
stood. The  word  (eBpaictfjui)  translated  "  ground  " 
in  our  text  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  New 
Testament,  but  a  closely  kindred  word  is  the  second 
of  those  (T€0€\€pici)fj,€voi  xal  tSpaloi)  used  by  St.  Paul 
in  writing  to  the  Colossians,  which  are  translated 
"grounded  and  settled"  (Coloss.  i.  23),  where  again 
the  meaning  is  beyond  doubt.  Now,  a  body  which 
taught  falsehood  could  not  be  said  to  be  the 
unshaken  support  of  truth  ;  so  again  we  are  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Church  is  infallible. 

We  are  forced  to  omit  an  immense  amount  of 


206]  PROOFS  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  yen 

proof  and  illustration  that  has  been  gathered  by 
divines  when  treating  on  this  subject,  and  we  can 
only  add  one  argument  drawn  from  theological 
reason.  We  have  seen  (n.  203)  that  the  Church 
has  authority  to  teach  given  her  by  God;  and  to 
this  authority  corresponds  a  duty  on  the  part  of  her 
members  to  receive  her  teaching,  for  without  this 
correlative  duty  the  word  authority  is  meaningless. 
But  God  cannot  have  imposed  upon  man  any  duty 
to  receive  and  accept  falsehood.  Hence  the  Divine 
veracity  is  concerned  to  see  that  the  authorized 
teacher  does  not  go  astray. 

207.  Objections  against  Infallibility. — The  all- 
important  point  that  has  just  been  discussed,  that 
Christ  left  on  earth  a  Church  to  which  is  granted  a 
Divine  assurance  of  immunity  from  error  in  her 
teaching,  has  naturally  been  the  principal  battle- 
ground in  all  controversy  between  the  Church  and 
the  sects  which  arose  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
which  were  the  first  to  call  this  Infallibility  in 
question.  Objections  against  the  Catholic  doctrine 
have  been  put  forward  in  immense  variety,  and 
sometimes  with  much  subtlety  by  a  great  number  of 
writers;  and  some  of  these  have  found  much 
currency,  and  form,  as  it  were,  a  great  part  of  the 
ordinary  stock  in  trade  of  Protestant  controver- 
sialists. It  would  be  out  of  place,  even  if  space 
permitted,  to  set  forth  all  these  objections  in  a  work 
of  which  the  main  purpose  is  not  polemical,  but 
expository,  and  it  will  be  enough  again  to  refer  the 
reader  to  the  great  work  of  Dr.  Murray,  De  Ecclesia. 
It  is  not  the  least  of  the  services  that  the  learned 


3oa      CONSTITUTION  «•  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [207 

author  has  rendered  to  Theology  that  he  has 
searched  the  whole  body  of  controversial  literature 
and  collected  in  a  short  form  all  the  objections  that 
he  finds,  together  with  the  answers.  They  fall 
under  no  less  than  seventy  heads,  and  many  of 
these  are  urged  in  various  shapes.  As  soon  as  the 
difficulty  is  exhibited  shortly  in  syllogistic  form  it 
can  be  understood  and  dealt  with ;  a  great  part  of 
the  skill  of  a  disputant  being  shown  in  discovering 
the  morsel  of  meaning  which  his  adversary  wraps 
Op  in  a  cloud  of  words,  but  which  often  turns  out 
to  be  a  very  trifle  when  set  forth  in  the  shape  which 
alone  is  admitted  by  logicians  to  be  conclusive, 
and  which  alone  is  in  use  in  Catholic  schools  of 
Theology.  (See  in  the  Appendix  a  specimen  of  a 
Disputation  carried  on  upon  these  lines.)  We  will 
make  a  few  remarks  which,  taken  together  with 
what  we  have  said  already  in  various  places,  will 
furnish  a  key  to  most  of  the  difficulties  thus 
laboriously  got  together  by  Dr.  Murray ;  some, 
however,  must  be  reserved  for  the  sixth  Treatise  on 
Faith. 

First,  then,  some  objectors  seem  to  hold  in  fact, 
though  not  in  terms,  that  God  could  not  establish  an 
infallible  Church  ;  but  they  fail  to  show  what  con- 
tradiction is  involved  in  the  idea.  Others  say  that 
such  an  institution  would  be  harmful,  destroying 
reason  and  cramping  research,  as  if  a  man  were  not 
free  if  he  pleased  to  reject  teaching,  even  if  he 
recognizes  that  it  comes  to  him  011  authority  which 
he  cannot  deny  ;  and  as  if  research  were  cramped 
whenever  it  was  provided  with  an  accession  to  the 


ao7]         OBJECTIONS  AGAINST  INFALLIBILITY.  303 

stock  of  undisputable  truths.  Others  think  that  if 
they  had  established  an  infallible  Church,  they 
would  have  arranged  it  better  than  Christ  has  done, 
pitting  their  wisdom  against  the  wisdom  of  God. 
They  would  have  the  Church  at  once  infallibly 
declare  her  whole  message,  forgetting  the  province 
of  prudence  in  regulating  the  times  for  producing 
things  new  and  old.  (St.  Matt.  xiii.  52.)  Others 
again  say  that  the  Church  has  in  fact  failed,  for 
errors  have  arisen,  as  if  the  power  of  a  perverse  will 
did  not  remain  with  man ;  and  some  urge  that  the 
whole  Church  has  failed,  quoting  the  expression 
of  St.  Jerome  that,  after  the  Council  of  Rimini  in 
359,  the  whole  world  found  with  surprise  that  it  had 
fallen  into  the  Arian  heresy  (Dial.  adv.  Luciferianos, 
n.  19 ;  P.L.  23,  172),  but  not  seeing  that  this  phrase 
is  merely  a  rhetorical  or  perhaps  humorous  exaggera- 
tion (see  similar  instances  in  Scripture,  St.  John 
xii.  19 ;  xxi.  25),  and  whatever  was  the  spirit  of  the 
remark,  it  certainly  was  not  true,  as  may  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  histories  of  the  period.  (See 
particularly  Jungmann,  Diss.  in  Hist.  Eccles.  vii.) 
If  it  be  said  that  the  Catholic  Church  practically 
disclaims  infallibility  as  often  as  her  Popes  and 
Councils  admit  the  aid  of  private  theologians 
to  help  their  deliberations  as  to  the  faith,  this 
merely  shows  that  the  gift  given  to  the  Church  is 
not  inspiration,  but  merely  a  Divine  security  that 
her  governors  shall  not  err  in  the  application  of 
their  human  prudence;  and  this  prudence  teaches 
those  concerned  to  inform  themselves  of  the  true 
tradition  by  all  available  means,  among  which  high 


So,      CONSTITUTION  *•  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.    [207 

places  are  held  by  the  Holy  Scripture  and  by  the 
feeling  that  prevails  among  the  laity.  St.  Paul 
addressing  the  clergy  gathered  at  Miletus  (Acts  xx. 
28,  seq.)  gave  them  such  instructions  as  he  judged 
to  be  suitable  and  sufficient  to  secure  them  in  the 
troublous  times  that  he  foresaw ;  and  they  who 
urge  that  he  would  have  referred  them  to  an 
infallible  authority,  had  he  believed  such  to  exist  on 
earth,  forget  that  they  were  already  instructed 
Christians  who  did  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  the 
elementary  truths  of  the  faith ;  and  that  some  of 
the  Apostles  themselves  were  still  living  and  were 
infallible  according  to  most  theologians  even  among 
Protestants.  (See  Galat.  i.  8.) 

This  must  suffice.  The  objections  that  are  taken 
against  our  Scripture  proofs  are  chiefly  founded 
on  arbitrary  additions  to  the  text,  as  when  the 
promise  of  Christ  to  be  with  His  Apostles  is  con- 
fined to  assistance  in  teaching  by  writing  the 
Scriptures,  a  restriction  of  which  the  Evangelist 
gives  no  indication.  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.)  Some 
suggestions  that  may  be  useful  in  this  part  of  the 
controversy  are  given  in  nn.  192,  VIII.,  205,  and 
elsewhere. 

208.  Seat  of  Infallibility. — The  subject  of  the 
seat  of  infallibility  in  the  Church  cannot  be  ade- 
quately discussed  until  we  have  established  the 
doctrine  concerning  the  Roman  Pontiff,  which 
forms  the  subject  of  our  next  Treatise.  A  few 
remarks  may,  however,  be  made.  The  Church  has 
been  shown  to  be  infallible  in  the  work  of  teaching 
(n.  203),  and  the  work  of  teaching  belongs  to  the 


2o8]  SEAT  OP  INFALLIBILITY.  905 

governing  body  of  the  Church,  the  Hierarchy 
(n.  206) ;  it  follows  from  this  that  the  governed,  the 
Church  as  Learners,  is  not  the  seat  of  infallibility ; 
but  that  nevertheless  we  have  an  assurance  that  the 
Learners  will  never  as  a  whole  fall  from  the  faith, 
for  this  would  imply  the  failure  of  the  Teachers  in 
their  work.  Hence  these  Teachers  are  the  proper 
seat  of  infallibility,  biit  not  the  whole  of  them,  for 
history  and  experience  prove  that  not  only  do 
individuals  among  them  make  shipwreck  of  the 
faith,  but  at  times  a  large  part  of  the  clergy  of 
entire  provinces  have  lapsed,  as  happened  in  the 
days  of  the  Donatist  schism,  in  southern  France  in 
the  twelfth  century,  and  in  various  parts  of  northern 
Europe  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  History 
further  shows  that  simple  priests,  whether  charged 
with  the  care  of  parishes  or  not,  have  never  been 
considered  as  ranking  with  Bishops  as  judges 
of  the  faith ;  and  the  doctrine  according  to 
which  they  have  in  virtue  of  their  ordination 
a  right  to  judge,  is  condemned  as  at  least  erro- 
neous by  Pope  Pius  VI.  (A  uctorem  Fidei,  10 ;  Denz. 

I373-) 

It  remains  that  the  Catholic  episcopate,  whether 
dispersed  or  united  in  a  General  Council,  are  a  seat 
of  infallibility,  and  it  will  be  shown  in  the  next 
Treatise  that  one  condition  of  the  status  of  each 
individual  Catholic  Bishop  is  that  he  is  in  com- 
munion with  the  See  of  Rome.  When  this  has 
been  established,  something  more  will  be  said  about 
General  Councils  (n.  297) ;  but  it  may  be  useful  to 
add  in  this  place  that  no  school  of  Catholic  theology 

U  VOL.  I. 


jofi      CONSTITUTION  «•  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH.    [zoS 

has  ever  doubted  that  the  morally  universal  agree- 
ment of  the  Catholic  Bishops  is  a  voice  of  the 
infallible  Church. 

209.  Extent  of  Infallibility. — Having  established 
that  the  Church  is  infallible  in  its  teaching,  and 
having  said  something  as  to  the  seat  of  this  privilege, 
we  now  come  to  the  interesting  question  of  its 
extent,  and  for  the  answer  to  this  question  we  must 
look  to  the  words  and  actions  of  the  Church  herself. 
Every  supreme  tribunal  of  whatever  kind  must 
necessarily  have  authority  to  define  the  limits  of 
the  matter  with  which  it  is  competent  to  deal,  for 
by  supposition  there  is  no  one  to  set  the  tribunal 
right  if  it  exceed  due  limits ;  the  Church  therefore, 
being  supreme  in  spiritual  matters,  has  authority  to 
teach  what  are  the  bounds  of  her  authority,  just  as 
in  the  English  system  of  law  the  House  of  Lords 
is  competent  to  declare  what  are  the  matters  with 
which  it  is  competent  to  deal ;  and  since  her 
teaching  is  infallible,  she  is  infallible  in  declaring 
the  bounds  of  her  own  infallibility.  Were  it  other- 
wise, the  supreme  tribunal  might  be  mocked  by 
any  delinquent  who  questioned  its  competence  to 
deal  with  his  case. 

We  must  then  look  to  the  matters  on  which  the 
Church  has  taught  the  Christian  world,  and  we 
observe  that  this  teaching  may  be  done  by  action 
no  less  than  by  word  of  mouth.  We  are  not 
concerned  with  the  prudence  of  all  her  actions, 
though  we  believe  that  on  the  whole  she  is  prudent 
in  a  degree  which  cannot  but  be  supernatural ;  nor 
do  we  hold  that  she  can  be  said  to  teach  doctrine 


2og]  EXTENT  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  307 

by  every  act  of  administration,  so  that  if  a  certain 
privilege  or  dispensation  was  granted  in  a  few  stray 
instances  these  would  not  necessarily  prove  that 
this  grant  was  within  the  competence  .of  the  Church ; 
but  if  these  grants  were  made  habitually,  as  often  as 
a  proper  case  came  before  the  courts,  we  should 
have  proof  that  the  grant  was  not  beyond  the  scope 
of  ecclesiastical  power. 

210.  Faith  and  Morals. — In  the  first  place  then, 
the  Church  is  infallible  in  denning  points  of  faith 
or  morals ;  for  the  revealed  doctrine  which  is  the 
object  of  faith  is  the  direct  matter  which  she  is 
placed  on  earth  to  teach,  and  the  distinction  of 
morals  from  faith  is  made  for  convenience  only,  for 
the  unlawfulness  of  certain  conduct  is  as  much  a 
matter  of  belief  as  are  the  articles  of  the  Creed. 
This  teaching  may  be  exercised  in  the  affirmative 
way,  as  when  the  Council  of  Nice  defined  that  the 
Word  of  God  is  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  and 
when  Pope  Pius  IX.  defined  that  our  Lady  was 
conceived  without  being  subject  to  original  sin ;  or 
in  the  negative  way,  by  condemning  certain  propo- 
sitions, which  condemnation,  at  least  if  the  note  of 
heresy  be  affixed,  amounts  to  an  infallible  definition 
that  the  contradictory  is  true ;  this  method  has  been 
in  frequent  use  since  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  as  may  be  seen  in  Denzinger.  So  far  there 
is  agreement  among  all  who  profess  to  be  Catholics, 
although  there  is  much  difference  of  opinion  con- 
cerning the  precise  effect  of  some  of  the  notes  of 
condemnation  which  have  been  used  from  time  tc 
time.  (See  n.  328.) 


3o8      CONSTITUTION  A-  POWERS  OP  THE  CHURCH,    [aic 

But  the  infallibility  of  the  Church  is  not  con- 
fined to  those  matters  which  have  been  revealed ; 
it  extends  to  other  truths  without  assurance  of 
which  it  would  be  impossible  or  very  difficult 
to  preserve  the  deposit  of  faith ;  and  the  Vatican 
Council  (Sess.  3.  can.  4),  pronounces  an  anathema 
against  all  who  maintain  that  branches  of  human 
learning  may  be  pursued  with  liberty  to  maintain 
the  truth  of  assertions,  even  if  opposed  to  revealed 
doctrine,  and  that  the  Church  is  powerless  to 
condemn  these  assertions  (Denz.  1664);  the  reason 
being  that  a  proposition  of  philosophy,  for  instance, 
may  be  so  closely  connected  with  revealed  doctrine 
that  a  true  act  of  faith  in  what  is  revealed  will 
be  impossible  for  one  who  errs  in  the  natural 
science. 

211.  Dogmatic  Facts. — But  besides  these  specu- 
lative truths,  there  are  certain  matters  of  fact  con- 
cerning which  the  Church  can  judge  with  infallible 
certainty.  These  are  called  by  many  writers 
dogmatic  facts,  although  others  use  this  expression 
only  of  one  class  among  them,  which  was  much 
discussed  in  the  course  of  the  controversy  with 
the  Jansenists  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries.  These  heretics  were  anxious  to  keep  the 
name  of  Catholic,  and  finding  their  doctrine  on 
grace  condemned  by  the  Church,  endeavoured  to 
escape  from  the  condemnation  by  showing  that  the 
Church  had  misunderstood  their  writings,  to  which 
it  was  replied  that  the  infallibility  of  the  Church 
extended  to  the  determination  of  the  true  sense 
conveyed  by  a  form  of  words ;  and  the  phrase 


2ii]  DOGMATIC  FACTS.  $09 

"  dogmatic  fact  "  was  little  heard  of  except  in  regard 
to  such  determinations. 

We  will  proceed  to  mention  some  dogmatic 
facts,  in  the  wider  sense,  adding  the  reason  why 
we  hold  that  they  come  within  the  infallible  authority 
of  the  Church.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  if 
the  Church  speak  on  any  of  these  matters,  it  does 
not  follow  that  she  has  exercised  her  infallibility ; 
she  may  have  intended  to  exert  a  merely  disciplinary 
authority  alone  (n.  203),  regulating  the  outward 
conduct  only,  but  not  touching  men's  inward  belief. 
The  doubt  that  may  sometimes  arise  in  particular 
cases  must  be  solved  by  considering  the  terms  and 
circumstances  of  the  utterance.  In  this  part  of 
the  subject  we  are  not  writing  controversially,  at 
least  as  regards  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  See;  we  are  merely  stating 
the  Catholic  doctrine. 

First,  then,  the  Church  is  infallible  when  she 
declares  what  person  holds  the  office  of  Pope ;  for 
if  the  person  of  the  Pope  were  uncertain,  it  would 
be  uncertain  what  Bishops  were  in  communion  with 
the  Pope;  but  according  to  the  Catholic  faith,  as 
will  be  proved  hereafter,  communion  with  the  Pope 
is  a  condition  for  the  exercise  of  the  function  of 
teaching  by  the  body  of  Bishops  (n.  208) ;  if  then 
the  uncertainty  could  not  be  cleared  up,  the  power 
of  teaching  could  not  be  exercised,  and  Christ's 
promise  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20 ;  and  n.  199,  II.)  would 
be  falsified,  which  is  impossible. 

This  argument  is  in  substance  the  same  as 
applies  to  other  cases  of  dogmatic  facts.  Also,  it 


fio      CONSTITUTION  &•  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH,    [an 

affords  an  answer  to  a  much  vaunted  objection  to 
the  claims  of  the  Catholic  Church,  put  forward  by 
writers  who  think  that  they  find  proof  in  history 
that  the  election  of  a  certain  Pope  was  simoniacal 
and  invalid,  and  that  the  successor  was  elected  by 
Cardinals  who  owed  their  own  appointment  to  the 
simoniacal  intruder ;  from  which  it  is  gathered  that 
the  Papacy  has  been  vacant  ever  since  that  time. 
A  volume  might  be  occupied  if  we  attempted  to 
expose  all  the  frailness  of  the  argument  which  is 
supposed  to  lead  to  this  startling  conclusion ;  but 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  if  the  Bishops  agree  in 
recognizing  a  certain  man  as  Pope,  they  are  cer- 
tainly right,  for  otherwise  the  body  of  the  Bishops 
would  be  separated  from  their  head,  and  the  Divine 
constitution  of  the  Church  would  be  ruined. 

In  just  the  same  way  the  infallibility  extends 
to  declaring  that  a  certain  Council  is  or  is  not 
ecumenical ;  that  certain  systems  of  education  are, 
or  are  not,  injurious  to  faith  and  morals;  that  the 
principles  of  certain  societies  are  immoral;  and  that 
certain  ways  of  life,  especially  in  Religious  Orders, 
are  not  merely  free  from  moral  evil,  but  are  laudable. 
Unless  the  Church  could  judge  upon  these  matters, 
she  could  not  exercise  her  office  of  guiding  and 
instructing  her  members. 

The  matters  of  Beatification  and  Canonization 
require  a  few  words  more  of  explanation.  The 
great  authority  on  the  whole  subject  is  the  work  of 
Pope  Benedict  XIV.  De  Canonizatione,  from  which 
the  late  Dr.  Faber  took  the  matter  of  the  Essay 
which  served  as  a  kind  of  preface  to  the  Oratory 


txij  DOGMATIC  PACTS.  311 

series  of  Lives  of  the  Saints.  (Faber,  Essay  on  Beati- 
fication, &c.)  It  is  enough  to  say  here  that  some- 
times the  Holy  See,  after  suitable  investigation, 
pronounces  a  solemn  judgment  that  the  virtue  of  a 
deceased  person  was  heroic  (n.  231),  and  that  God 
has  testified  to  his  sanctity  by  miracles  worked  by 
his  intercession ;  and  then  it  is  accustomed  to 
declare  that  the  person  may  be  publicly  allowed 
the  title  of  "Blessed,"  and  that  Mass  and  Office 
may  be  said  in  his  honour  within  certain  limits  of 
place,  or  by  certain  classes  of  persons.  If  after  an 
interval  rt  is  judged  that  God  has  been  pleased 
to  show  by  further  miracles  His  approval  of  what 
has  been  done,  then  a  further  decree  may  be  issued 
by  which  the  Pontiff  defines  that  the  person  is  a 
"  Saint,"  and  is  to  be  honoured  as  such  in  the 
whole  Church  with  public  worship.  No  writer  of 
repute  doubts  that  this  last  decree  of  Canonization 
is  an  exercise  of  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
Church,  for  were  it  mistaken,  the  whole  Church 
would  be  led  into  offering  superstitious  worship  ; 
but  there  is  a  controversy  as  to  whether  this  same 
can  be  alleged  of  Beatification,  for  this  decree  is  in 
a  manner  reviewed  in  the  subsequent  process.  We 
have  no  space  to  enter  into  the  arguments  on  both 
sides  of  this  question,  and  will  only  remark  that  on 
every  view  the  decree  of  Beatification  commands 
at  least  the  respect  of  all  the  faithful,  as  being  the 
deliberate  judgment  of  the  common  Father.  If 
any  one  be  inclined  to  scoff  at  the  process  by  which 
the  miracles  are  established  in  these  cases,  he  may 
be  referred  to  the  records  of  the  causes,  where  he 


3xa      CONSTITUTION  &-  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH,    [an 

will  see  the  scrupulous  care  with  which  the  evidence 
is  scrutinized.  (See  n .  255.) 

Lastly,  the  Church's  infallible  authority  extends 
to  determining  the  true  sense  conveyed  by  forms  of 
speech,  whether  solitary  words,  or  propositions,  or 
books;  and  this  without  reference  to  the  meaning 
intended  by  the  author,  of  which  in  general  the 
Church  does  not  judge.  This  is  the  class  of  cases 
to  which  the  name  of  dogmatic  facts  is  more  parti- 
cularly applied.  The  exercise  of  this  power  by  the 
Church  has  in  all  ages  been  most  distasteful  to  all 
who  have  wished  to  retain  the  character  of  being 
Catholic,  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  wanting 
in  the  spirit  of  hearty  interior  submission  to  the 
living  teacher ;  and  statesmen  who  care  little  about 
truth  and  much  about  peace,  join  in  protesting 
against  what  they  represent  as  undue  insistence  on 
mere  words.  Thus  the  Arians  of  the  fourth  century, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Emperor  Constantius,  pro- 
tested against  the  Catholics  who  insisted  on  their 
acceptance  of  the  word  "  consubstantial,"  which 
the  Council  of  Nice  had  used  in  defining  the  doctrine 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity;  they  wished,  they  said,  to 
use  no  words  not  found  in  Scripture,  novel  words ; 
but  the  Catholics  replied  by  asking  whether  newly- 
discovered  poisons  might  not  render  necessary  novel 
drugs  as  antidotes  (St.  Hilar.  Contra  Constantium, 
n.  15,  16;  P.L.  10,  594);  and  since  that  day  the 
disputed  word  has  held  its  place  in  the  Catholic 
Creed.  In  the  same  way,  the  Council  of  Trent 
(Sess.  13,  can.  2 ;  Denz.  764)  denned  that  the  word 
Transubstantiation  was  most  fit  to  apply  to  the 


2ii]  DOGMATIC  FACTS.  313 

change  of  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist ;  and  the 
Synod  of  Pistoia,  which  raised  objections  similar  to 
those  just  quoted  from  the  Arians,  and  would  have 
omitted  the  word,  was  condemned  by  Pope  Pius  VI. 
(Auctorem  Fidei,  prop.  29;  Denz.  1392)  on  the  ground 
that  the  word  was  consecrated  by  the  Church  for 
the  defence  of  the  faith  against  heresies.  The  con- 
troversy with  the  Jansenists  turned  partly  on  the 
question  whether  the  Church  had  authority  to 
declare  that  the  famous  five  propositions  were  con- 
tained in  the  book  written  by  Jansenius ;  this  was 
felt  to  be  the  central  point  of  the  whole  matter,  for 
if  the  Church  could  not  determine  the  meaning  of 
language  she  would  be  powerless  to  teach  :  her  only 
medium  of  instruction  is  human  language.  For  an 
account  of  this  mortal  contest,  the  reader  must  go 
to  the  historians.  (See  Jungmann,  Diss.  in  Hist. 
Eccles.  Diss.  XL.)  At  the  present  day,  Jansenism 
as  a  heresy  no  longer  exists,  at  least  in  any  con- 
spicuous form ;  but  the  spirit  of  Jansenism,  which 
wishes  to  claim  Catholic  communion  without  sub- 
mission of  mind  and  will  to  the  hierarchical  Church, 
still  shows  itself  frequently  in  various  forms. 

212.  Recapitulation.  —  In  this  long  chapter  we 
have  shown  that  there  is  in  the  Church  by  Divine 
appointment  a  hierarchy  of  governors,  who  have, 
among  other  functions,  authority  to  teach  the 
members  of  the  Church,  and  this  with  Divine 
guarantee  that  they  will  not  err.  The  difficulties 
that  are  raised  against  this  doctrine  were  discussed; 
it  was  shown  that  though  the  laity  are  not  the 
teachers,  yet  from  the  faith  of  the  laity  the  faith  of 


3X4      CONSTITUTION  6-  POWERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.    [an 

the  teachers  may  be  inferred ;  that  the  seat  of  the 
infallible  authority  cannot  be  fully  explained  until 
the  doctrine  concerning  the  Roman  Pontiff  has  been 
established  ;  and  finally  it  was  shown  that  the 
authority  extended  to  certain  matters  which  though 
not  actually  revealed,  are  yet  closely  connected  with 
Revelation. 


CHAPTER  V. 

UNITY  OF   THE    CHURCH. 

213.  Subject  of  Chapter. — So  far  we  have  been 
discussing  elements  which  may  be   considered    as 
constituting  the  essence  of  the  Church.  We  proceed 
now  to  discuss  certain  properties  of  the  same  super- 
natural society,  among  which  the  first  place  will  be 
assigned    to   that    Unity  which   is   ascribed    to  the 
Church  in  the  Nicene  Creed. 

214.  Properties  of  the  Church. — The  word  Property 
is  used  by  logicians  to  signify  something  which   is 
always  found  to  accompany  another  thing,  without 
however  being  conceived  as  essential  to  that  thing. 
Thus,  to  use  the  common  illustration,  the  essence 
of  "  man  "  is  to  be  a  rational  animal :  every  man  is 
a  rational  animal,  and   every  rational  animal  is  a 
man.    But  further,  to  be  capable  of  laughter  belongs 
to  all  men  and  to  men  alone,  and  yet  we  do  not  see 
any  intrinsic  reason  why  this  power  should  be  found 
in  every  rational  animal,  and  in  no  other.      This 
being  so,    capability   of  laughing   is   said    to   be  a 
property  of  man. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  example,  it 
serves  to  illustrate  the  sense  which  is  attached  to 
the  word :  and  so,  when  we  speak  of  the  properties 


3i«  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [214 


of  the  Church,  we  have  to  look  for  something  that 
is  found  in  this  society  and  in  none  other,  but  which 
does  not  seem  obviously  to  result  from  the  position 
occupied  by  the  society  of  being  the  instrument  by 
which  the  work  begun  on  earth  by  Christ  is  to  be 
carried  on  and  applied  to  individual  men.  It  is  in 
this  sense  that  it  is  usual  to  speak  of  four  pro- 
perties as  possessed  by  the  Church :  Unity,  Sanctity, 
Catholicity,  and  Apostolicity ;  and  these  are  some- 
times spoken  of  loosely  as  essential  to  the  Church, 
inasmuch  as  the  Church  can  never  be  without  any 
of  them.  In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  speak  of 
the  first  of  these,  and  show  how  and  in  what  sense 
the  Church  of  Christ  is  One.  The  three  chapters 
that  follow  will  deal  with  the  remaining  properties ; 
and  the  closing  chapter  of  the  Treatise  will  point 
out  the  way  in  which  these  properties  afford  the 
means  of  determining  which  among  the  various 
communions  that  profess  the  Name  of  Christ  is 
that  Church  which  He  founded  and  which  He 
endowed  with  the  magnificent  prerogatives  that  we 
have  described  in  previous  chapters. 

Keen  controversies  exist  as  to  all  this  branch 
of  our  subject,  and  many  points  will  arise  which 
are  felt  to  be  absolutely  vital.  Our  proofs  will  be 
gathered  mainly  from  the  Scriptures,  the  authority 
of  which  is  acknowledged  by  all  our  adversaries : 
we  shall  also  use  history  and  the  witness  of  the 
Fathers,  for  many  whom  we  oppose  ascribe  weight 
to  these  authorities. 

215.  Catholic  Doctrine  on  Unity.  —  It  will  be 
convenient  to  begin  with  a  short  statement  of  the 


215]  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE  ON   UNITY.  317 

elements  which  make  up  the  idea  of  the  Unity  or 
Oneness,  which  is  a  property  of  the  Church.  It  is 
not  only  that  there  is  only  one  Church  in  the  world, 
one  society  only  through  membership  of  which 
salvation  is  to  be  attained,  and  attained  the  more 
easily  the  fuller  and  more  perfect  is  the  union  of  the 
individual  with  the  society.  (See  nn.  165,  181,  187.) 
It  is  true  that  in  this  sense  the  Church  is  One  or 
Unique  :  but  this  is  far  from  being  the  only  sense. 
There  may  be  a  man  alone  in  a  certain  place,  but 
to  say  this  does  not  describe  the  oneness  of  his 
nature  :  this  is  found  in  the  way  in  which  the 
various  powers  of  the  soul  and  members  of  the 
body  work  together  for  one  end  :  there  is  a  common 
principle  giving  a  character  to  the  whole,  and  the 
influence  of  which  sharply  distinguishes  the  man 
from  all  things  of  what  kind  soever  that  are  not  he. 
There  is  variety  in  the  members,  but  there  is  some 
thing  common  to  them  all.  The  Church,  in  like 
manner,  has  a  principle  of  oneness,  which  joins  the 
members  together,  and  distinguishes  the  society 
from  a  mere  aggregate  of  unconnected  units.  The 
members  are  associated  in  order  that,  believing 
the  revelation  which  God  has  given,  and  using  the 
means  of  grace  which  He  has  provided  under  the 
direction  of  the  governors  who  have  their  authority 
from  Him,  they  may  attain  the  end  of  their  being, 
the  salvation  of  their  souls.  In  other  words,  the 
Unity  which  the  Church  must  have  includes  Unity 
of  Faith,  Unity  of  Worship,  and  Unity  of  Govern- 
ment. It  will  be  observed  that  we  still  say  nothing 
as  to  the  form  of  this  government,  whether  monar- 


§i8  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [213 

chical  or  otherwise,  but  that  the  society  may  be  One 
it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  ruled  by  one  supreme 
government. 

216.  Schism. — The  state  and  sin  of  Schism  are 
so  closely  connected  with  that  Unity  which  we  are 
about  to  prove  to  be  a  property  of  the  Church  that 
it  may  be  well  to  say  something  about  it  in  this 
place.  The  word  "schism"  signifies  cleaving  (<r^t'^o>, 
to  split),  but  it  is  perhaps  not  used  except  in  its 
ecclesiastical  sense,  or  in  senses  derived  from  this. 
Thus  we  sometimes  hear  that  a  schism  has  occurred 
in  some  political  organization,  the  meaning  being 
that  a  portion  of  the  members  of  the  association 
have  withdrawn  from  the  profession  of  obedience  to 
the  managers,  and  ceased  to  co-operate  with  the 
rest.  The  cause  of  the  division  may  be  some 
dispute  as  to  the  genuine  principles  of  the  party,  or 
as  to  the  best  means  of  promoting  them,  or  it  may, 
and  often  does,  arise  from  offence  being  taken  at 
what  seems  arbitrary  conduct  on  the  part  of  those 
in  authority.  Whenever  such  a  separation  happens, 
complaints  are  heard  from  both  sides  of  the  damage 
done  to  the  cause  by  the  split,  and  there  is  plenty  of 
recrimination,  as  each  side  throws  the  blame  upon 
the  other :  but  impartial  bystanders,  even  though 
they  understand  little  of  the  nature  and  merits  of 
the  dispute,  generally  have  little  trouble  in  telling 
which  of  the  two  disputants  is  the  original  and 
which  is  the  secession.  What  is  here  said  of 
political  parties  is  also  frequently  observed  in  the 
history  of  religious  sects,  the  multitudinous  forms  of 
Presbyterian isrn  and  Methodism  having  originated 


ai6)  SCHISM.  3if 

in  a  series  of  secessions  from  the  Scotch  Kirk  and 
the  Wesleyan  body. 

The  Emperor  Aurelian  was  a  bystander  when  in 
the  year  272  he  was  appealed  to  in  an  action  of 
ejectment  brought  by  the  clergy  of  Antioch  against 
Paul  of  Samosata,  who  had  previously  been  Bishop, 
but  had  been  deposed  for  heresy.  He  refused  to 
surrender  possession  of  the  church  house,  until 
compelled  to  do  so  by  the  authority  of  the  Emperor, 
whose  judgment  is  that  the  house  belonged  to  those 
with  whom  the  Bishops  of  Italy  and  Rome  corres- 
ponded. (Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.  7,  30 ;  P.G.  20,  720 ; 
and  see  n.  213  as  to  Commendatory  Letters.)  In 
this  way,  as  the  historian  remarks,  Paul  was  turned 
out  of  the  church  in  most  disgraceful  fashion  by  the 
secular  power  (/cooyu/e^  ap^).  The  word  which 
is  here  rendered  "  correspond  with  "  often  means 
"  give  orders  to  "  (eVto-TeXXw). 

The  word  Schism  is  used  frequently  in  St.  John's 
Gospel,  to  describe  the  different  views  that  were 
taken  by  parties  among  the  Jews  as  to  the  true 
character  of  the  Mission  of  our  Lord  (see  St.  John 
vii.  43 ;  ix.  16 ;  x.  19,  &c. ;  the  literal  sense  is  in 
St.  Matt.  ix.  16) ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  these 
were  more  than  passing  differences  of  opinion.  The 
ecclesiastical  use  of  the  word  appears  to  be  founded 
on  a  passage  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  namely, 
i  Cor.  i.  10.  St.  Paul  is  writing  to  the  members  of 
the  Christian  community,  which  owed  its  origin  to 
his  preaching,  and  he  beseeches  them  by  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  they  all  speak  the 
same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  schisms  among 


}M  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [216 

them ;  and  he  speaks  thus  earnestly,  in  the  very 
opening  of  his  letter,  because  it  had  been  signified 
to  him  that  there  were  contentions  among  them. 
These  contentions  went  so  far  that  the  parties  took 
to  themselves  the  names  of  leaders  of  whom  they 
professed  themselves  to  be  in  a  special  manner  the 
disciples ;  some  were  of  Paul,  some  of  Apollos,  some 
of  Cephas,  while  others  professed  to  be  of  Christ. 
Nothing  is  known  as  to  the  true  nature  of  these 
dissensions,  though  much  has  been  written  about 
them,  and  huge  theories  built  up  upon  most  narrow 
foundations :  some  account  will  be  found  in  Cony- 
beare  and  Howson's  Life  of  St.  Paul,  in  the  thirteenth 
chapter.  We  may  remark  that  it  seems  that  the 
factions  really  took  the  names  that  are  mentioned, 
and  that  these  names  are  not  inserted  by  St.  Paul  in 
order  to  save  the  credit  of  the  true  leaders.  This  is 
the  opinion  held  by  St.  Augustine  (De  Baptismo  contra 
Donatistas,  5,  13  [15];  P.L.  43,  184),  and  the  Latins 
in  general,  against  St.  Chrysostom  (Horn.  12  in 
i  Cor.;  P.G.  61,  95)  and  other  Greeks,  who  think 
that  the  precaution  that  St.  Paul  mentions  (i  Cor. 
iv.  6)  as  taken  by  him  extends  to  the  whole  oi 
the  earlier  part  of  the  Epistle,  whereas  it  is  well 
explained  as  referring  only  to  the  five  preceding 
verses.  (See  Cornely's  Commentary  in  the  Cursus 
Scriptures  Sacra.)  The  chief  argument  for  the  Latin 
view  is  founded  on  a  passage  of  the  first  Epistle  of 
St.  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  chapter  xlvii.  This 
writer  can  scarcely  have  been  mistaken  on  the 
subject,  writing  as  he  did  a  very  few  years  after  the 
date  of  St.  Paul's  letter ;  and  his  reasoning  would 


2 1 6]  SCHISM.  321 

have  no  force  if  the  view  of  the  Greeks  be  adopted. 
(P.G.  i,  308.)  That  these  assumptions  of  party 
names  were  not  countenanced  by  the  leaders  whose 
names  were  employed,  is  proved,  if  proof  be  needed, 
by  the  terms  in  which  St.  Paul  mentions  Apollos  in 
this  very  Epistle,  (xvi.  12.)  One  party  called  them- 
selves by  the  name  of  Christ,  and  there  is  a  curious 
parallel  to  this  exclusiveness  in  the  use  of  the  name 
Evangelical  by  some  sects  of  the  present  day,  as 
though  they  had  a  monopoly  of  the  Gospels.  Since 
the  members  of  these  parties  are  clearly  among  the 
number  of  those  to  whom  the  Epistle  is  addressed, 
and  who  are  spoken  of  collectively  with  commen- 
dation (i.  4 — 9),  we  gather  that  no  complete  and 
formal  separation  had  taken  place,  and  indeed  it 
.  could  scarcely  have  occurred  so  long  as  the  parties 
had  no  true  leaders:  it  follows  that  the  emphatic 
protests  of  the  Apostle  were  elicited  by  the  existence 
of  a  spirit  which  gave  rise  to  a  danger  of  actual 
schism. 

We  have  schism  from  the  Church  in  the  fullest 
sense  in  the  case  of  heresy,  which  severs  the  person 
professing  it  from  the  membership  of  the  Church 
(n.  193) ;  but  the  formal  sin  of  schism  is  as  it  were 
merged  in  the  yet  greater  sin  of  heresy ;  and  ever 
if  the  sins  are  material  only,  through  ignorance,  the 
state  of  heresy  is  more  disastrous  than  even  the 
state  of  schism ;  so  that  the  word  Schismatic  is 
seldom  used  of  one  who  is  also  a  heretic,  whether 
formal  or  material.  The  sin  of  schism  specially  so 
called  is  committed  by  one  who,  being  baptized,  by 
a  public  and  formal  act  renounces  subjection  to  the 
v  VOL.  i. 


322  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [216 

governors  of  the  Church ;  also  by  one  who  formally 
and  publicly  takes  part  in  any  public  religious 
worship  which  is  set  up  in  rivalry  to  that  of  the 
Church.  It  is  not  an  act  of  schism  to  refuse 
obedience  to  a  law  or  precept  of  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  or  other  ecclesiastical  Superior,  provided 
this  refusal  does  not  amount  to  a  disclaimer  of  all 
subjection  to  him  ;  nor  even  then,  if  there  be  any 
doubt  of  his  authority,  as  when  two  or  more  persons 
have  plausible  claims  to  the  position;  but  formal 
schism  may  be  committed  by  one  who  claims  to 
exercise  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  which  has  not 
been  conferred  upon  him  by  proper  authority. 

217.  The  Donatists. — The  nature  cf  schism  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  history  of  the  rise  of  the 
Donatist  party,  and  by  what  is  called  the  Great 
Schism.  A  very  short  sketch  of  each  must  suffice ; 
and  first  of  the  Donatists. 

In  the  year  311,  Mensurius,  Archbishop  of  Car- 
thage, died  on  his  return  from  Rome,  whither  he 
had  been  called  to  answer  a  charge  made  against 
him  by  the  Emperor.  His  death  becoming  known, 
an  election  was  held,  when  Caecilian  was  chosen 
and  consecrated  by  Felix  of  Aptunga.  This  election 
was  highly  displeasing,  on  private  grounds,  to  many 
influential  persons  in  Africa,  who  determined  to  set 
it  aside,  and  they  procured  the  assistance  in  their 
scheme  of  a  considerable  body  of  bishops  belonging 
to  the  adjoining  province  of  Numidia.  These  bishops 
met  together,  and  declared  the  ordination  of  Caecilian 
null,  on  the  ground  that  Felix  had  been  guilty  of 
turrendering  the  Sacred  Scriptures  at  the  command 


2i7]  THE   DONATISTS.  323 

of  Diocletian  (see  n.  133),  which  crime,  they  con- 
tended, cut  him  off  from  the  communion  of  the 
Church  ;  and  it  was  further  alleged  that  Caecilian 
had  been  elected  before  the  arrival  of  the  bishops 
of  Numidia,  whose  presence  was  necessary.  After 
pronouncing  the  decree  of  deposition,  the  assembly 
proceeded  to  elect  one  of  their  own  party, 
Majorinus,  to  fill  the  vacant  see.  Majorinus 
dying  was  succeeded  by  Donatus,  from  whom  the 
party  took  its  name. 

So  far  there  is  nothing  in  the  history  to  show 
conclusively  which  party  was  in  the  right  :  but 
the  next  steps  dispelled  all  doubt.  The  question 
between  Caecilian  and  Majorinus  was  brought 
before  the  Pope  St.  Melchiades  and  a  council  of  a 
few  bishops  summoned  by  him  :  and  after  hearing 
the  parties,  sentence  was  pronounced  in  favour  of 
Caecilian.  Even  this  was  not  conclusive,  even  for 
those  who  admit  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Holy 
See,  for  a  personal  question  like  this  differs  from  a 
question  of  faith  :  the  decision  may  be  reheard  and 
the  judgment  reversed.  The  Pope  finding  that  the 
defeated  party  did  not  acquiesce,  had  the  whole 
matter  again  gone  into,  at  a  Council  held  at  Aries, 
before  a  larger  and  more  representative  assembly 
of  bishops.  The  decision  was  again  in  favour  of 
Caecilian,  and  the  whole  Christian  world  outside 
the  two  provinces  in  which  the  dispute  had  arisen 
recognized  this  decision  as  final.  From  that  time 
the  schism  was  complete  :  and  there  was  no  room 
for  doubt  whether  the  name  of  schismatic  was  to 
be  given  to  a  knot  of  bishops  holding  sees  within 


j24  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [217 

a  stretch  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  along 
the  north  coast  of  what  we  call  Africa,  or  whether, 
as  these  alleged,  they,  and  they  alone,  were  the  true 
Church,  and  the  rival  Bishops  of  Carthage  and  the 
neighbourhood,  together  with  'he  Bishops  of  Rome 
and  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  were  cut  off  from 
membership.  The  Donatists  soon  added  to  their 
schism  the  heresy  of  denying  Church-membership 
to  sinners :  the  sect  existed  for  about  a  century, 
and  then  died  out. 

218.  The  Great  Schism. — What  is  rightly  called 
the  "  Great  Schism  "  had  a  different  history,  for 
although  there  was  undoubtedly  a  schism,  yet  to 
this  day  there  is  no  ground  for  an  absolute  judg- 
ment which  party  were  the  schismatics.  The 
division  lasted  from  1378  to  1417.  In  the  former 
year,  the  Holy  See  being  vacant,  a  de  facto  election 
was  held  by  the  Cardinals  :  but  they  soon  repented 
of  their  choice,  and  declaring  that  they  had  acted 
under  fear  of  a  seditious  rising  of  the  Roman  popu- 
lace, they  proceeded  to  a  second  election,  choosing 
another  person.  The  names  are  omitted  here,  for 
they  are  apt  to  bring  confusion  into  a  history 
which  in  its  main  features  is  sufficiently  simple. 
This  double  election  resulted  in  there  being  two 
claimants  for  the  Papacy,  each  of  whom  obtained  a 
considerable  following,  and  there  was  no  short  and 
easy  means  of  determining  which  was  the  rightful 
Pope.  Each  had  a  line  of  successors,  and  for  a 
while  there  were  three  claimants,  in  consequence  of 
another  double  election  in  one  of  the  lines :  and  this 
deplorable  state  of  things  continued  until  the  year 


2i8]  THE   GREAT  SCHISM.  325 

1417,  when,  during  the  Council  of  Constance,  the 
moment  came  for  holding  an  undisputed  election  ; 
all  the  rival  lines  happened  to  be  without  a  head 
at  the  same  time  :  the  Holy  See  was,  therefore, 
undoubtedly  vacant,  and  Pope  Martin  V.  was  duly 
chosen,  and  recognized  on  all  hands  with  an  insigni- 
ficant exception.  This  put  an  end  to  a  state  of 
things  during  which  there  was  wide-spread  schism, 
involving  perhaps  half  of  the  Catholic  world  ;  but 
the  schism  was  material  only,  resulting  from  the 
presence  of  insoluble  doubt  as  to  the  person  of 
ihe  Pontiff.  No  one  renounced  the  principle  of 
Dbedience  to  the  Pope,  so  soon  as  he  should  be 
known. 

No  authorities  are  quoted  here  for  these 
histories,  because  they  have  been  narrated  only 
for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  nature  of  Schism. 
There  probably  is  not  much  room  for  controversy 
as  to  the  facts  that  have  been  mentioned  in  these 
bare  outlines.  The  whole  matter  should  be  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  Catholicity  of  the 
Church,  (chapter  vii.) 

219.  Errors  as  to  Unity. — The  errors  opposed  to 
the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  the  Church  fall 
into  two  classes.  There  are  some  who  maintain  the 
necessity  of  absolute  unity  of  faith,  and  are  ready 
fully  to  acknowledge  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
Church  in  denning  articles  of  faith,  and  to  regard 
as  heretics  all  who  question  anything  which  has 
been  so  denned :  but  they  are  content  with  this, 
and  believe  that  the  Church  may  be  split  into 
several  communions  which,  while  they  agree  in 


326  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [219 

holding  the  define  1  faith,  disagree  as  to  worship 
and  government :  and  they  hold  that  this  state  of 
things  is  actually  existing,  and  that  the  English 
Established  Church,  the  Church  in  communion  with 
the  Roman  See,  and  various  bodies  of  Christians  in 
the  East,  are  so  many  branches  of  the  one  Catholic 
Church,  united  in  holding  the  defined  faith,  but 
each  refusing  to  allow  community  of  worship  to  the 
members  of  other  branches,  and  disclaiming  all 
subjection  to  a  common  government.  These  profess 
readiness  to  submit  to  any  pronouncement  of  the 
united  Church  :  but  so  long  as  the  Church  is  dis- 
united, the  voice  is  dumb  which  they  would  regard 
as  infallible.  The  upholders  of  this  doctrine  are 
found  among  the  followers  of  the  Established 
Church  of  England,  and  its  offshoots. 

The  rest  of  the  members  of  the  English  Estab- 
lishment, together  with  such  other  Protestants  as 
recognize  the  existence  of  any  visible  Church,  take 
a  different  line.  They  hold  that  there  are  certain 
articles  of  faith  which  they  term  fundamental,  and 
they  believe  that  belief  in  these  fundamentals  is 
sufficient  to  qualify  for  Church  membership.  All 
who  hold  these  fundamentals  may  worship  in 
common,  and  may  submit  themselves  to  such  form 
of  Church  government  as  seems  to  them  most 
convenient  for  securing  order ;  and  this  may  be  so, 
even  though  they  differ  on  such  points  of  faith  as 
are  not  fundamental.  This  system,  as  well  as  the 
theory  of  branch  Churches,  will  be  found  inconsistent 
with  the  passages  of  Scripture  by  which  the  Unity 
of  the  Church  in  faith,  worship,  and  government 


zig]  ERRORS  AS  TO   UNITY.  32) 

will  be  proved:  and  further  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  distinction  of  fundamentals  and  non- 
fundamentals  is  absolutely  destitute  of  Scripture 
authority,  and  that  its  supporters  are  not  agreed  as 
to  the  criteria,  nor  in  the  lists  they  put  forward  to 
show  what  they  hold  to  be  fundamental. 

In  n.  226  we  shall  prove  that  the  theory  of 
Branch  Churches  adopts  in  fact  the  distinction  of 
Fundamentals  and  Non-Fundamentals. 

220.  Unity  of  Faith. — The  great  and  all-sufficient 
proof  that  absolute  unity  of  faith,  extending  to  the 
whole  body  of  revealed  doctrine,  is  a  property  of 
the  Church  is  found  in  what  we  proved  in  our  last 
chapter  concerning  the  infallibility  which  Christ  has 
conferred  upon  the  Church.  Christ  has  guaranteed 
that  the  Church  shall  not  err  in  defining  doctrine : 
all  Christians  therefore  must  be  prepared  to  accept 
all  definitions  which  the  Church  has  put  forth  or 
shall  put  forth,  the  alternative  being  to  suppose  that 
Christ  is  false  to  His  word.  Also,  if  we  consider 
.the  end  for  which  the  Church  was  founded,  we  see 
the  necessity  for  unity  of  faith,  not  merely  for  the  fact 
of  all  agreeing  to  profess  certain  doctrines,  but  for 
them  to  admit  the  authority  of  some  voice  which 
can  give  an  authoritative  decision  on  all  questions 
that  can  arise  in  the  future.  The  end  of  the  Church 
is  that  men  should  act  together  in  promoting  the 
end  for  which  each  individual  man  was  created  :  the 
application  to  himself  of  the  Redemption  wrought 
by  Christ.  But  experience  shows  that  differences 
in  points  of  religious  belief  are  great  hindrances 
to  the  co-operation  of  men  in  any  undertaking : 


3a8  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  [220 

disputes  on  these  matters  are  apt  to  be  rancorous 
in  the  extreme  :  and  even  where  all  parties  acknow- 
ledge that  an  Authority  exists  the  sound  of  whose 
voice  would  command  implicit  submission,  dis- 
cussions on  points  which  are  still  undefined  are  apt 
to  be  carried  on  with  a  warmth  that  is  scarcely 
consistent  with  charity ;  and  the  Church  from  time 
to  time  imposes  silence  on  both  parties  to  a  dispute 
in  her  theological  schools.  This  was  done,  for 
example,  in  1607,  by  Pope  Paul  V.  in  regard  to  the 
controversy  as  to  the  efficacy  of  grace ;  and  in  1667, 
by  Alexander  VII.,  in  regard  to  a  question  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  attrition.  One  of  the  main 
reasons  by  which  men  justify  their  abandonment  of 
all  belief  in  Christ  is  derived  from  the  fierce  battles 
that  rage  among  the  Protestant  sects  :  these  cannot 
all  teach  truth,  it  is  said,  for  they  call  down  curses 
on  each  other's  errors ;  why  should  they  not  all  be 
wrong  ? 

The  doctrine  which  we  maintain  is  clearly 
implied  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  of 
St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians.  The  Apostle  is  urging 
his  disciples  to  support  one  another  in  charity :  and 
he  urges  them  to  remember  that  they  have  one 
body,  one  spirit,  one  hope  of  their  calling,  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God.  Here  the 
oneness  of  faith  ascribed  to  a  Christian  community 
is  put  along  with  other  things,  the  absolute  oneness 
of  which  is  indisputable.  The  argument  of  the 
Apostle  would  indeed  be  weak  if  the  one  faith  of 
which  he  speaks  were  confined  to  a  limited  number 
of  doctrines,  and  were  consistent  with  difference  of 


220J  UNITY  OF  FAITH.  329 

opinion  about  other  parts  of  revealed  doctrine.  The 
Ephesians  are  to  be  perfectly  one  in  charity  because 
they  are  in  one  faith :  this  would  be  a  futile  saying 
if  there  were  a  possibility  that  they  should  differ 
in  faith  while  yet  remaining  members  of  the  same 
community. 

It  will  not  be  questioned  that  our  doctrine  is 
that  of  the  Fathers,  for  in  fact  the  idea  that  member- 
ship of  the  Church  is  consistent  with  differences  of 
faith  was  unheard  of  until  the  great  revolt  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  But  it  may  be  useful  to  cite  a 
few  words  from  St.  Irenaeus,  who  writing  about  the 
year  166  ventures  to  'say  that  the  faith  of  the  whole 
Church  is  one  and  the  same  throughout  the  world. 
(Adv.  -Hcereses,  i,  10,  3  ;  P.G.  7,  560.) 

Some  objections  to  our  doctrine  are  drawn  from 
the  parallel  of  the  Jewish  Church,  which  admitted 
Sadducees  as  members  of  the  Council,  although 
these  Sadducees  held  undoubtedly  false  doctrines. 
(Acts  xxiii.  6 — 8.)  In  answer  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  the  proofs  which  we  have  given  for  the  case  of 
the  Christian  Church  keep  their  force,  whatever 
may  be  the  case  with  the  Jewish  Church,  con- 
cerning whose  constitution  little  is  known.  Also, 
it  is  objected  that  some  converts  from  Judaism 
continued  to  observe  the  Law  of  Moses  after  their 
conversion,  although  this  law  was  no  longer  pleasing 
to  God.  This  is  true.  The  Old  Law  ceased  to  be 
binding,  or  even  a  means  of  grace,  from  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  when  the  New  Law  was  promulgated 
and  the  Church  was  founded  :  and  from  the  date 
of  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  (Acts  xv.),  the  opinion 


330  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [220 

that  it  was  still  obligatory,  either  on  Jewish  or  on 
Pagan  converts,  was  heretical,  and  this  whether  it 
were  regarded  as  still  retaining  its  old  force  or  as 
having  been  incorporated  into  the  law  of  Christ. 
But  time  was  needed  before  so  great  a  change 
could  come  to  the  minds  and  consciences  of  men  ; 
especially  as  the  wish  of  the  Church  that  the 
Synagogue  should  be  buried  with  honour  led  to  the 
use  of  the  old  ceremonies  being  still  allowed  to  be 
optional  for  Jewish  converts,  although  these  derived 
no  spiritual  profit  from  the  obsolete  observances. 
(See  n.  278.) 

The  above  objections  are  founded  on  Scripture. 
Others  of  a  more  general  nature  are  the  following  : 
It  is  said  that  there  can  be  no  unity  of  faith  in  a 
community  where  the  bulk  of  the  members  cannot 
know  what  they  are  called  upon  to  believe  ;  and 
this  must  be  the  case  in  every  society  of  men.  The 
answer  is  that  unity  of  faith  does  not  require  explicit 
belief:  what  can  be  and  is  found  in  all  the  members 
of  the  Church  is  the  explicit  belief  of  certain  dogmas, 
which  this  is  not  the  place  to  specify,  and  the  readi- 
ness of  mind  to  believe  whatever  is  proposed  upon 
the  authority  of  the  Church ;  this  being  what  is 
called  implicit  belief,  it  is  further  alleged  that  it  is 
tyrannical  to  claim  to  domineer  over  the  minds  of 
men  :  that  religion  clean  and  undefiled  is  found  in 
outward  works  of  charity  (St.  James  i.  27),  and  that 
to  insist  on  unity  of  belief  hampers  the  freedom  of 
men  in  the  search  for  truth.  We  reply  that  this 
might  be  a  just  complaint,  were  it  not  that  God  has 
imposed  upon  men  the  duty  of  hearing  the  Church, 


220]  UNITY  OF  FAITH.  331 

which  speaks  with  an  authority  which  is  guaranteed 
against  error  by  God  Himself,  as  was  proved  fully 
in  the  last  chapter :  and  that  man  is  helped  and 
not  hampered  in  the  search  for  truth  by  being 
supplied  with  certain  portions  of  truth  of  which  he 
is  absolutely  assured. 

221.  Unity  of  Worship.  —  That  there  must  be 
unity  of  worship  in  the  Church,  in  which  worship 
all  its  members  participate,  will  be  thought  hardly 
to  need  proof  when  we  consider  that  in  the  Church 
men  are  associated  together  for  the  purpose  of 
helping  each  other  in  the  service  of  God  and  the 
following  of  Christ.  They  will  not  help  each  other 
if  they  refuse  to  admit  them  to  communion  in 
worship :  and  in  fact  the  chief  of  the  sacraments, 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  is  often  called  Holy  Com- 
munion, because  admission  to  common  participation 
in  it  is  esteemed  in  a  peculiar  manner  a  token  of 
oneness  in  religion.  In  the  final  charge  given  to 
the  Apostles  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19)  there  is  no  hint  of 
any  Baptism  but  one ;  and  we  are  prepared  for  the 
express  declaration  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians 
(Ephes.  iv.  5):  "One  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism." 
The  same  Apostle,  seeking  to  heal  the  discord 
which  he  found  prevailing  in  the  Church  of  Corinth, 
reminds  the  people  that,  as  they  partake  of  the  same 
Sacraments,  they  ought  to  be  united  as  members  of 
one  body  (i  Cor.  xii.  13  ;  x.  16) ;  and  the  young 
Church  at  Jerusalem  is  praised,  for  that  "  they  were 
persevering  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostles,  and  in 
the  communication  of  the  breaking  of  bread  and  in 
prayers." 


332  UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCH.  [221 

The  view  taken  in  the  earliest  times  of  the  guilt 
of  one  who,  whether  publicly  or  privately,  joined  in 
prayer  with  an  excommunicated  person,  is  proved 
by  the  tenth  and  eleventh  of  the  so-called  Canons  of 
the  Apostles,  which  assign  excommunication  as  the 
penalty  of  the  offence.  The  form  of  these  Canons 
is  certainly  not  Apostolic  :  but  the  substance  of  the 
two  which  we  have  quoted  is  believed  by  Hefele 
(Councils,  vol.  i.  Appendix)  to  come  down  from 
Apostolic  times  :  and  undeniably  they  have  at  all 
times  been  held  to  express  the  discipline  of  the 
Church,  speaking  just  the  same  language  as  is 
spoken  by  the  Bull  Apostolica  Sedis  of  October  12, 
1869. 

222.  The  Diptychs. — This  unity  of  worship  was 
preserved  in  the  early  Church  by  two  remarkable 
institutions,  the  Diptychs  and  Commendatory 
Letters.  We  must  find  space  to  give  such  an 
account  of  these  as  will  indicate  their  nature ;  the 
reader  will  not  be  able  fully  to  appreciate  the 
importance  which  was  attached  to  them  unless  he 
make  himself  familiar  with  the  original  authorities 
on  Church  history. 

The  word  Diptych  means  folding  tablets,  such 
as  were  used  by  the  ancients  for  many  purposes. 
They  were  of  various  sizes  and  were  often  highly 
ornamented ;  and  the  adornment  of  dipt}  chs  with 
their  panels,  has  always  been  a  favourite  form  of 
Christian  art.  But  our  concern  is  with  the  diptychs 
used  in  every  church  in  ancient  times  containing  a 
list  of  names  of  those  persons  with  whom  the  priest 
when  saying  Mass  publicly  professed  that  he  was  in 


222]  THE  DIPTYCHS.  333 

spiritual  communion,  and  who  were  in  a  special 
manner  partakers  in  the  fruit  of  the  Sacrifice. 
These  included  the  Church  Militant,  the  Church 
Triumphant,  and  the  Church  Suffering.  The  names 
of  the  Pope  and  the  Bishop  were  inserted,  as  they 
still  are,  in  the  Canon  of  the  Mass  in  the  Roman  rite ; 
also  the  names  of  distinguished  persons,  the  reigning 
Emperor,  living  benefactors,  and  the  like ;  also  the 
names  of  some  martyrs  were  recited,  and  of  deceased 
Bishops  who  had  been  distinguished  for  holiness ; 
and  to  these  were  added  the  names  of  other  departed 
friends  of  the  Church.  To  insert  the  name  of  a 
person  in  the  diptychs  was  a  profession  of  religious 
union  with  him,  and  if  a  name  was  erased,  this  act 
amounted  to  a  public  renunciation  of  such  union ; 
and  in  this  way  the  diptychs  are  often  mentioned 
in  the  history  of  controversy.  St.  Augustine 
threatens  disorderly  clerics  that  he  will  blot  their 
names  out  from  the  tablets  of  the  clergy  (Serm. 
356,  14;  P.L.  39,  1,580);  and  when  the  fortunes  of 
orthodoxy  and  of  St.  John  Chrysostom  stood  and 
fell  together,  and  the  schism atical  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  had  struck  the  name  of  his  holy 
predecessor  from  the  diptychs,  the  "Joannites" 
refused  to  attend  Mass  at  the  Cathedral  and  held 
assemblies  of  their  own ;  and  Atticus  caused  the 
name  of  John  to  be  restored,  in  hopes  of  thus 
satisfying  them.  (Socrates,  Hist.  Eccl.  7,  25;  P.G. 
67,  793.)  The  historian  does  not  tell  us  whether  the 
measure  was  successful.  This  was  in  408.  In  480, 
the  Patriarch  Euthymius  with  his  own  hand  restored 
the  name  of  Pope  Felix  III.  to  the  diptych  of 


334  UNITY   OF  THE  CHURCH.  [222 

Constantinople,  erasing  that  of  the  heretic  Mongus 
of  Alexandria,  with  whom  his  predecessors  had  held 
communion.  (Theophanes,  Ad  Ann.  480;  P.G.  108, 
324.)  The  same  method  was  adopted  by  way  of 
professing  that  each  church  accepted  the  decrees 
of  the  great  Councils  in  which  the  doctrine  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation  was  defined ; 
thus,  in  513,  Euphrasius  of  Antioch  struck  out  of 
his  diptychs  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  and  the  name 
of  Pope  Hormisdas,  but  afterwards  through  fear 
restored  them,  probably  dreading  a  popular  rising 
(Theophanes,  Ad  Ann.  513  ;  P.G.  108,  392)  :  and  in 
533  the  Emperor  Justinian  writes  to  the  Patriarch 
Epiphanius  that  he  will  lend  the  weight  of  his 
authority  to  discountenance  all  who  removed  from 
the  Diptychs  of  the  Church  the  mention  of  the 
three  hundred  and  eighteen  Fathers  of  Nice,  or  of 
the  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  Constantinople,  and 
of  the  Synods  of  Ephesus  and  Constantinople :  this 
constitution  being  inserted  in  the  Code  became  part 
of  the  common  law  of  the  Empire.  (Cod.  Just,  i, 
i,  7,  21.)  Such  was  the  care  taken  to  show  that 
unity  in  faith  and  unity  of  worship  were  inseparable 
companions. 

223.  Letters. — The  Scriptures  afford  us  traces  of 
the  early  Christian  use  of  Commendatory  Letters, 
called  also  Litera  Formates,  because  drawn  up  in  a 
fixed  form.  The  practice  was  probably  derived  from 
the  Jews,  whose  authorities  would  give  letters  to 
one  of  their  body  who  was  about  to  travel  to  secure 
him  a  kind  reception  by  the  synagogues.  (Acts  ix.  i.) 
The  opponents  of  St.  Paul  at  Corinth  objected  that 


223  LETTERS.  335 

he  had  brought  no  letters  (2  Cor.  iii.  i),  and  the 
practice  is  mentioned  in  other  places.  (Acts  xviii.  27; 
Titus  iii.  13.)  The  Galatian  Church  seems  to  have 
been  deceived  by  forged  letters  (Galat.  ii.  4),  and 
there  is  a  warning  on  the  subject  in  what  are 
called  the  Canons  of  the  Apostles  (chap,  xii.),  which 
though  not  truly  of  Apostolic  origin,  represent  the 
very  early  discipline  of  the  Church.  St.  Augustine, 
in  one  place,  describes  the  seal  with  which  he  had 
closed  his  letter,  "  the  face  of  a  man  looking  to  one 
ide,"  apparently  as  a  precaution  against  tampering. 
(Epist.  59,  2  ;  P.L.  33,  227.) 

We  have  curious  heathen  testimony  to  the 
practice  and  its  efficacy.  Lucian  represents  the 
philosopher  Peregrinus  as  having  wormed  himself 
into  the  favour  of  the  Christians,  and  as  feeling 
assured  that,  let  him  go  which  way  he  would,  he 
was  secure  of  a  maintenance ;  but  he  fell  into  crime 
and  this  resource  failed  him.  (Lucian,  De  Morte 
Peregrini,  p.  998  of  the  edition  of  Paris,  1615.) 
The  death  of  Peregrinus  happened  about  the  year 
1 66,  and  Lucian  wrote  not  long  after.  Again,  the 
Emperor  Julian  the  Apostate,  whose  heart  was 
set  on  the  overthrow  of  Christianity  and  the 
re-establishment  of  Paganism,  cast  about  for  means 
of  securing  permanence  for  his  change,  which  he 
feared  would  otherwise  not  survive  him  ;  and  he 
thought  that  he  could  not  do  better  than  imitate 
the  polity  of  the  Christians,  with  which  he  was 
acquainted,  having  had  a  clerical  education  and 
been  advanced  to  the  order  of  Reader.  Accordingly 
he  gave  orders  for  the  temples  of  the  gods  being 


336  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [223 

arranged  after  the  pattern  of  Christian  churches, 
and  for  the  practice  of  reading  and  preaching  in 
them ;  he  would  appoint  special  days  for  prayer, 
and  the  practice  of  public  penance  for  sin  was  to 
be  encouraged.  He  would  establish  monasteries  of 
men  and  women  devoted  to  the  study  and  practice 
of  philosophy,  as  well  as  hospitals  and  other 
charitable  institutions.  "  But  especially,"  it  is  said, 
"  he  saw  the  value  of  the  letters  of  the  bishops, 
which  secured  to  travellers,  whencesoever  they 
came  and  whithersoever  they  arrived,  that  they 
were  received  with  all  kindness,  as  most  dear  old 
friends,  on  the  faith  of  the  testimonial."  So  at 
least  we  read  in  Sozomen  (5,  16;  P.O.  67,  1,259), 
and  whether  or  not  we  believe  the  story  as  to 
Julian's  plans,  it  is  at  least  plain  that  the  historian 
knew  that  the  efficacy  of  the  letters  was  such  as 
he  mentions.  To  come  to  Christian  testimonies, 
Tertullian  (De  Prescript,  20;  P.L.  2,  32)  tells  us 
that  all  the  many  Churches  were  bound  together 
by  the  exchange  of  "  peace  " — perhaps  "  the  kiss 
of  peace  " — and  by  the  name  of  "  brother,"  and 
by  the  tokens  securing  hospitality :  and  our  last 
quotation  shall  be  from  St.  Augustine.  (Epist.  44,  3  ; 
P.L.  33,  175.)  Writing  of  the  Donatist  Bishop 
Fortunius,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  controversy, 
he  says  :  "  First,  he  tried  to  make  out  that  his  com- 
munion existed  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  I  asked 
him  whether  he  could  give  Commendatory  Letters, 
such  as  we  call  Liter  a  Formate,  to  enable  me  to 
travel  wherever  I  would ;  and  I  remarked,  what 
was  clear  to  every  one,  that  this  would  afford  an 


223]  LETTERS.  33> 

easy  way  of  settling  the  question."  Of  course,  the 
letters  of  the  schismatic  would  be  of  no  avail  outside 
the  narrow  limits  of  the  Africans.  Here  again  we 
have  plain  proof  that  unity  of  worship  and  Church- 
membership  were  considered  as  going  together. 

224.  Unity  of  Government.  —  The  necessity  of 
unity  of  government  in  the  Church  follows  from 
nearly  every  text  that  has  been  quoted  to  prove 
the  existence  of  the  Church  as  a  visible,  organized 
society.  It  follows  from  the  nature  of  a  society 
that  there  must  be  some  government  (n.  200)  to 
direct  the  members  to'  the  end  and  if  there  is 
more  than  one  supreme  governor  recognizing  sub- 
jection to  no  one,  there  is  more  than  one  society : 
there  is  nothing  to  give  unity  to  these  governors. 
This  lesson  is  clearly  taught,  for  the  case  before 
us,  by  the  figures  under  which  the  Church  is  spoken 
of  in  Scripture.  Thus  the  Church  is  a  Kingdom. 
(St.  Matt.  xiii.  xvi. ;  xx.  xxv.)  This  figure  is  so 
common  that  it  is  enough  to  cite  a  few  chapters 
from  one  of  the  Gospels,  in  which  it  is  used  perpe- 
tually ;  it  is  a  city  (St.  Matt.  v.  15) ;  a  household 
(St.  Luke  xv.  II — 24)  ;  a  sheepfold  (St.  John  x. 
n — 16)  ;  a  body.  (Romans  xii.  ;  i  Cor.  vi.  ; 
i  Cor.  xii.)  In  all  these  figures  we  see  a  number 
of  units  made  one  by  being  under  one  government. 
Men  are  considered  to  be  subjects  of  one  kingdom 
when  they  are  subject  to  one  king :  if  two  kings, 
or  governments  in  any  other  form,  bore  sway  within 
the  same  territory,  each  claiming  absolute  inde- 
pendence of  the  other,  we  should  not  say  that  the 
state  was  one;  such  a  condition  of  things  in  fact  could 
w  VOL.  T. 


33«  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [224 

have  no  permanent  existence,  for  the  question  of 
predominance  would  soon  be  settled  by  war.  If 
the  territories  were  distinct  we  should  have  two 
kingdoms,  even  though  the  two  were  in  close 
alliance.  In  the  same  way,  men  conceive  of  a  city, 
not  as  being  a  mere  collection  of  houses,  but  as 
having  oneness  given  to  it  by  some  oneness  in  the 
management.  So,  too,  a  household  implies  that 
there  is  one  head  of  the  family  :  otherwise  we  have 
two  households,  living  together  perhaps  in  harmony, 
but  in  no  sense  one.  The  sheep  within  the  same 
fold  are  conceived  as  being  under  the  care  of  one 
shepherd ;  and  all  the  members  of  one  living  body 
are  directed  by  one  animating  principle. 

More  directly  we  are  taught  the  same  lesson  by 
the  Apostle  writing  to  the  Ephesians  (Ephes.  iv. 
II — 16),  where  we  read  that  Christ  instituting  a 
government  in  the  Church,  distributed  through 
several  offices,  "  for  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ,  until  we  all  meet  into  the  unity  of  faith." 
If  there  were  many  governments,  they  would  build 
up  many  bodies,  and  these  could  not  all  be  the 
Body  of  Christ,  nor  would  they  lead  their  subjects 
to  unity  of  faith,  unless  there  were  some  supernatural 
control,  such  as  is  nowhere  promised. 

There  is  no  need  to  spend  space  in  quoting  testi- 
monies of  the  Fathers  on  this  subject :  abundant 
passages  will  be  found  in  Waterworth's  Faith  oj 
Catholics.  It  will  be  enough  to  cite  the  emphatic 
words  of  St.  Irenaeus :  "  They  that  cause  schism, 
be  the  trifling  pretence  what  it  may,  hew  and  rend 
the  great  and  glorious  Body  of  Christ,  and  so  far  as 


224]  UNITY  OF  GOVERNMENT.  339 

in  them  lies  put  Him  to  death  :  ...  for  the  evil 
of  schism  is  an  evil  greater  than  the  good  of  any 
reform  that  they  can  work."  (Adv.  Har.  4,  33,  n.  7 ; 
P.G.  7,  1,076.)  And  St.  Cyprian,  who  wrote  on  the 
Unity  of  the  Church,  has  the  following  (n.  17  ; 
P.L.  4,  513) :  "  If  one  be  separate  from  the  Church, 
turn  from  him,  shun  him  ;  he  is  perverse  and  in 
sin,  and  stands  self-condemned."  The  authority  of 
these  Fathers  has  special  weight  with  many  of  the 
moderns  who  oppose  our  doctrine. 

225.  Objections. — The  question  of  the  unity  of 
worship  and  government  in  the  Church  is  felt  to  be 
so  important  that  no  surprise  can  be  felt  at  the 
multitude  of  objections  that  are  raised  against  our 
doctrine  and  its  proof.  These  have  been  collected 
by  Dr.  Murray  at  the  end  of  the  first  volume  of  his 
great  work,  De  Ecclesia,  where  they  should  be  studied 
by  all  who  are  interested  in  the  matter.  We  can  do 
no  more  than  indicate  some  principles  on  which  the 
replies  are  based. 

I.  Many  of  the  objectors  try  to  show  that  our 
argument  from  the  figures  is  inconclusive,  because 
they  think  it  possible,  in  some  peculiar  circum- 
stances, for  the  thing  mentioned  as  a  figure  to  exist 
without  unity  of  government :  as  if  it  be  said  that  a 
body  of  men  are  going  down  the  street,  when  in 
truth  they  are  merely  so  many  unconnected  units. 
The  reply  is  that  the  figure  used  is  a  popular  illus- 
tration of  the  truth,  and  is  not  put  forward  as 
conveying  more  than  what  would  ordinarily  be 
understood.  Now  it  is  undeniable  that  ordinarily 
the  phrase  "a  body  of  men"  suggests  that  several  are 


340  UNITY  OF  'JHE  CHURCH.  [225 

acting  in  concert  for  a  common  object  and  under 
the  direction  of  a  common  superior,  especially  if  it 
be  pointed  out  that  being  many  they  are  one  body 
(i  Cor.  x.  17),  and  an  argument  be  drawn  from  the 
fact  of  this  conspiration. 

II.  It  is  said  again  that  the  Church  triumphant 
and  the  Church  militant  are  one,  and  therefore,  if 
our    arguments    hold,    ought    to    have    a    common 
government.     We  reply  that  there  is  a  true  sense 
in  which  the  two  are  one,  and  yet  in  another  sense 
they  are  distinct ;    and  our   arguments  are  drawn 
from    the    teaching    of    Scripture    concerning    the 
Church   militant :    none   of  the   passages   adduced 
make  any  reference  to  the  Church  triumphant. 

III.  The  exhortations  which   we   read  to  care 
in  preserving  unity  among  Christians  indicate  that 
there  is  danger  of  this  unity  being  lost.     But  they 
show  no  more   than  that  there   is  danger  of  this 
unity  being  lost  by  individuals,  for  by  carelessness 
they  may  lapse   into  heresy  and    schism  :    besides 
which,    the    mode    in    which    Divine    Providence 
secures  the  Church  against  ever  losing  her  glorious 
prerogatives  is  not  by  using  miracle  or  forcing  the 
will  of  man,  but   by  so  effectually   seconding  the 
human   means   employed   by   the  governors   as  to 
secure  that  the  Church  shall  never  suffer  irreparable 
damage  through  the  frailty  of  her  members. 

IV.  Figurative  language  can  never  lead  to  an 
assured  conclusion.     On  the  contrary,  this  use  of 
figures  is  a  most  effectual  mode  of  teaching ;  and 
were   this   otherwise,  it   would    not   have   been   so 
constantly  employed  by  Christ  and   His  Apostles. 


225]  OBJECTIONS.  341 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  a  demonstration  can 
always  be  drawn  from  a  single  figure,  but  when 
many  figures  are  used,  the  common  character  that 
runs  through  them  all  is  easily  detected. 

V.  On  one  occasion  there  was  a  strife  among 
the  disciples  of  Christ  "  which  of  them  should  seem 
to  be  the  greater ;  and  He  said  to  them,  The  kings 
of  the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  they  that  have 
power  over  them  are  called  beneficent :  but  you  not 
so;  but  he  that  is  greater  among  you  let  him  become 
as  the  younger."  (St.  Luke  xxii.  24 — 26.) 

We  see  to  what  straits  the  opponents  of  our 
doctrine  are  reduced  when  we  read  that  they 
interpret  this  text  as  condemning  all  exercise 
of  superiority,  as  though  it  were  unlawful  in  a 
Christian  to  hold  any  office  of  authority.  If  this 
be  the  meaning,  there  is  an  end  of  civil  govern- 
ment, for  there  is  not  a  word  to  restrict  the 
reference  to  Church  matters ;  and  we  do  not  see 
how  our  Lord  could  have  held  Himself  up  as  a 
model,  as  He  does  in  the  following  verse,  for  He  was 
undoubtedly  Lord  and  Master.  (St.  John  xiii.  13.) 
In  truth,  the  warning  is  personal,  and  teaches  those 
who  are  entrusted  by  God  with  any  portion  of 
authority  over  their  fellow-men  not  to  take  honour 
and  profit  to  themselves,  as  will  be  done  by 
governors  of  all  sorts  who  are  guided  by  purely 
worldly  principles.  This  is  the  duty  of  rulers  in 
Church  and  State  alike:  all  are  bound  to  exercise 
their  office  with  a  view  to  the  welfare  of  their 
subjects,  and  to  set  an  example  of  humility  and 
self-forgetfulness. 


34*  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [225 

VI.  Where  there  is  unity  of  government,  it  is 
urged,  there  must  be  unity  of  laws ;  and  since  the 
Church  does  not  insist  on  unity  of  laws,  it  follows 
that  it  does  not  really  maintain  unity  of  government. 
The  reply  to  this  is,  that  as  to  the  Divine  laws 
touching  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  the  like,  there  must  be  and  is  unity  : 
also  there  is  unity  in  so  far  as  all  acknowledge  the 
authu)  ity  of  one  supreme  legislator :  but  this  legis- 
lator 'S  guided  in  the  exercise  of  his  power  by  con- 
siderations of  time  and  place ;  and  if  he  neglected 
the/,e  his  conduct  in  his  office  would  be  imprudent : 
and  in  this  way  the  unity  of  government  is  preserved, 
even  though  the  discipline  of  one  age  and  country 
differ  from  what  is  enforced  in  other  centuries  and 
regions.  There  is  unity  of  government  in  Great 
Britain,  although  the  laws  of  Scotland  differ  from 
the  laws  of  England. 

These  specimens  of  objections  must  suffice. 
There  are  none  perhaps  which  can  have  much 
weight  with  any  who  fully  appreciate  the  argument 
which  we  found  in  the  figures  used  by  our  Lord  and 
His  Apostles  to  describe  the  Church.  It  may  be 
doubted  whether  any  intelligible  theory  has  ever 
been  put  forward  which  reconciles  a  visible  Church 
and  a  divided  government. 

226.  Rival  Views. — In  a  previous  place  (n.  219) 
we  described  the  system  of  Branch  Churches  and 
the  system  of  Fundamentals.  The  latter  of  these 
systems  finds  favour  with  those  who  ^lory  in  the 
name  of  Protestant,  while  the  supporters  of  the 
farmer,  for  the  most  part,  disclaim  this  name, 


tilVAL    VIEWS.  343 


and  would  dissociate  themselves,  were  it  possible, 
from  all  who  accept  it  as  applicable  to  them  :  if 
they  keep  up  spiritual  communion  with  men  whom 
they  regard  as  heretics,  it  is  with  a  protest  and 
as  a  grudging  concession  to  the  times  which  they 
scarcely  attempt  to  justify.  But  the  fact  is  that 
both  parties  actually  agree  in  holding  the  distinction 
of  Fundamentals  and  Non-  Fundamentals.  The 
advocates  of  the  Branch  Church  theory  do  this  in 
effect  as  often  as  they  maintain  the  favourite  position 
that  Church-membership  requires  no  more  faith 
than  is  implied  in  holding  the  Creed  of  the  Council 
of  Nice,  with  the  additions  made  by  the  Council  of 
Constantinople,  to  which  some  would  add  the  word 
Filioquc,  which  was  introduced  by  the  authority 
of  the  Pope  alone,  without  the  aid  of  any  Council  : 
the  taste  of  others,  in  closer  agreement  perhaps 
with  their  principles,  leads  them  to  reject  this  word 
as  making  an  undue  call  upon  their  obedience. 
Some  of  them  will  urge  the  Decree  by  which  the 
Council  of  Ephesus  in  430  forbade  the  adding  of 
new  articles  to  the  Creed  as  then  existing,  and  by 
this  contention  show  that  they  regard  these  articles 
as  alone  fundamental,  while  those  added  at  the 
Council  of  Trent  must  be  either  false  or  at  least 
indifferent,  to  be  held  or  not  without  prejudice  to 
the  character  of  a  member  of  the  Church.  These 
forget  that  the  Council  which  put  forth  this  Decree 
could  not  mean  to  bind  the  hands  of  future 
assemblies  whose  authority  was  no  less  than  its 
own.  For  private  men  to  put  forth  new  Creeds 
or  to  curtail  those  already  put  forth  by  authority 


344  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [226 

would  be  a  grievous  usurpation,  even  were  it  not 
forbidden. 

227.  Recapitulation.  —  In  this  chapter,  after  ex- 
plaining what  is  meant  by  a  property  of  the  Church, 
and  showing  by  certain  examples  what  is  the  nature 
of  schism,  we  have  proved  that  the  Church  must  be 
one  in  faith,  in  worship,  and  in  government,  and  we 
have  considered  certain  specimens  of  the  objections 
brought  against  our  doctrine  ;  some  remarks  on  the 
doctrines  of  Fundamentals  and  of  Branch  Churches 
close  the  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SANCTITY   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

238.  Subject  of  Chapter. — The  second  property 
that  we  claim  for  the  Church  is  Sanctity  or  Holiness. 
In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  explain  what  is 
meant  by  this  word,  and  show  that  from  many 
points  of  view  the  Church  must  be  pronounced  to 
be  holy,  with  a  holiness  which  is  attested  by 
singular  favours  bestowed  by  God. 

229.  Meaning  of  Holiness. — The  idea  of  Holiness, 
or  Sanctity,  for  the  two  words  seem  to  have  the 
same  meaning,  hardly  admits  of  definition,  for  it  is 
simple,  and  cannot  be  further  analyzed.  The  older 
writers  describe  it  by  negatives.  Thus,  the  author 
of  the  book  on  the  Divine  Names,  that  attained  so 
much  authority  in  the  middle  ages  under  the  name 
of  St.  Denys  the  Areopagite,  says  (cap.  12 ;  P.G.  3, 
969),  "  It  is  nothing  but  absolute  and  spotless  clean- 
ness, the  absence  of  defilement."  Another  unknown 
writer  identifies  sanctity  with  Justice  in  relation 
to  God.  (Horn,  in  S.  Lucam,  cap.  i,  inter  opera 
S,  Joannis  Chrysost.) 

If  we  consider  what  things  they  are  which  are 
called  holy,  we  find  in  the  Scripture  that  God  is 
pre-eminently  holy  :  and  we  learn  from  Isaias  (vi.  3) 


346  SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [229 

and  St.  John  (Apoc.  iv.  8)  that  to  proclaim  this 
holiness  unceasingly  is  the  special  occupation  of 
them  that  stand  nearest  to  the  throne  in  Heaven. 
Also,  those  spots  of  ground  which  were  in  any 
special  manner  appropriated  to  God  were  holy 
(Exodus  iii.  5  ;  St.  Matt.  iv.  5),  as  were  all  articles 
employed  in  the  worship  of  God  (Exodus  xxix.  29 ; 
Hebrews  ix.  2) ;  but,  passing  over  many  other  uses, 
we  find  that  the  word  is  peculiarly  used  of  persons, 
whether  on  earth  or  in  Heaven,  who  are,  or  are 
presumed  to  be,  closely  united  to  God  by  charity. 
(Tobias  ii.  12  ;  Romans  i.  7  ;  Apoc.  v.  8,  &c.)  The 
general  idea  of  holiness  would  then  seem  to  be 
nearness  to  God,  the  Source  and  Author  of  all 
Sanctity :  whether  it  be  a  thing,  as  an  altar  dedi- 
cated to  Him,  or  an  institution,  like  a  holy  day, 
designed  to  lead  men  to  Him :  and  as  the  word  can 
be  applied  to  men,  it  means  the  absence,  more  or 
less  complete,  of  all  that  is  positively  displeasing  to 
Him,  and  the  presence  of  supernatural  union  with 
Him  by  charity. 

230.  The  Church  Holy. — That  the  Church  is  in 
some  sense  holy  will  scarcely  be  disputed.  The 
Founder  of  the  Church  is  God  Himself,  the  Fountain 
of  all  Holiness,  which  He  communicates  in  such 
manner  as  He  sees  fit  to  the  works  of  His  hands. 
When  Christ  speaks  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  18)  of  building 
His  Church  upon  the  rock,  He  seems  to  call  our 
attention  to  this  building  as  being  in  some  special 
sense  His  handiwork :  and  we  can  imagine  that 
when  speaking  He  contemplated  that  Church  as 
He  would  have  made  it,  "  not  having  spot  nor 


Z3o]  THE  CHURCH   HOLY.  347 

wrinkle  nor  any  such  thing,"  "  holy  and  without 
blemish  "  (Ephes.  v.  27),  an  ideal  which,  through 
the  malice  of  man,  will  never  be  realized  to  the  full 
upon  this  earth. 

Further,  the  Church  is  holy,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
set  on  earth  to  be  the  means  of  leading  men  to 
union  with  God.  The  purpose  and  end  of  the 
Church  is  to  continue  the  work  which  Christ  began 
on  earth,  and  this  work  is  holy,  for  it  is  to  enable 
and  help  men  to  the  attainment  of  that  supernatural 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  God  in  Heaven  for 
which  they  are  destined.  This  destiny  will  be  theirs 
in  virtue  of  their  membership  of  the  Church,  and 
the  ability  to  gain  it  comes  to  them  as  they  receive 
that  interior  grace  which  is  the  portion  of  all  men, 
for  all  are  in  some  sense  members  of  the  soul  of 
the  Church,  however  imperfect  that  membership 
may  be.  (n.  187,  and  Hurter,  Compendium,  n.  225.) 
St.  Justin  Martyr  does  not  hesitate  to  claim  the 
heathen  sages  as  being  his  fellow-Christians.  (Apol. 
i.  46 ;  P.G.  6,  397.)  Further,  the  members  of  the 
Church  receive  aids  to  advance  in  holiness  when 
they  partake  of  those  Sacraments  to  which  they 
have  access  in  virtue  of  their  membership  :  in  which 
Sacraments  they  receive  or  are  restored  to  habitual 
grace,  if  their  souls  are  lacking  the  garment  of 
charity ;  or,  if  they  already  have  this  precious  gift, 
then  these  Sacraments  furnish  helps  to  retain  and 
adorn  it.  The  Church  also,  by  her  infallible  voice, 
teaches  her  members  the  truth  about  God,  instructs 
them  how  they  can  unite  themselves  with  Him 
by  prayer,  and  guides  each  in  the  practice  of  all 


348  SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [230 

virtue ;  she  warns  against  evil  communications,  and 
encourages  all  to  seek  for  help  to  grow  in  holiness 
by  studying  the  example  of  such  of  her  children  as 
have  profited  by  her  teaching. 

These  general  considerations  are  common 
perhaps  to  all  denominations  of  Christians,  though 
there  may  be  some  variety  in  the  language  in  which 
they  would  be  expressed.  The  explanation  of  the 
terms  which  we  have  used,  and  the  defence  of  them 
when  needful,  must  be  sought  in  other  Treatises : 
those  on  Grace,  Justification,  and  the  Sacraments. 
They  go  far  to  explain  the  sense  in  which  the 
Holy  Scripture  so  constantly  ascribes  Sanctity  to 
the  Church,  and  to  her  members,  in  virtue  of  what 
ought  to  be  the  holiness  of  the  members  of  a  holy 
body.  In  the  Acts  and  Epistles,  the  word  "  Saint " 
is  perpetually  used  as  equivalent  to  "Christian." 
Saul,  the  persecutor,  did  much  evil  to  the  "  Saints 
in  Jerusalem ; "  that  is,  to  the  members  of  the 
Church  in  that  city :  and  most  of  the  Epistles  are 
addressed  to  the  "  Saints  "  who  are  in  such  or  such 
a  place  (e.g.,  Ephes.  i.  i) ;  and  in  the  older  books, 
the  same  word  is  used  of  all  who  were  serving  God 
as  members  of  the  Jewish  Church  (Psalm  xxix.  5), 
and  this  even  when  God  sees  reason  to  reprove 
them  for  their  personal  conduct.  (Isaias  xliii.  28, 
on  which  see  Father  Knabenbauer's  Commentary.) 

231.  Heroic  Sanctity. — But  this  Sanctity  of  the 
Church  in  the  Author  that  founded  her,  in  the 
purpose  of  her  existence,  and  in  the  means  by 
which  she  strives  to  promote  that  purpose,  is  not 
all :  besides  all  this,  and  in  spite  of  the  perversity 


231]  HEROIC  SANCTITY.  349 

of  man,  she  is  successful  in  securing  holiness  in 
a  large  number  of  her  children,  some  of  whom 
co-operate  with  grace  so  effectually  as  to  rise  to 
that  altogether  extraordinary  degree  of  sanctity 
which  is  called  heroic  virtue.  Much  depends  upon 
obtaining  a  correct  notion  of  the  meaning  of  this 
phrase,  as  used  by  theologians,  and  we  shall 
endeavour  to  explain  it,  following  the  safe  guidance 
of  Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  who,  before  being  raised 
to  the  Papacy  in  1740,  had  been  employed  for  many 
years  as  "  Devil's  Advocate,"  charged  with  the  duty 
of  seeing  that  no  Servant  of  God  was  admitted  to 
the  honour  of  being  declared  "  Blessed"  or  "  Saint" 
without  due  proof  of  all  that  the  law  requires  in 
such  cases:  and  among  the  rest,  he  had  to  weigh 
the  sufficiency  of  proofs  offered  to  show  the  presence 
of  heroic  sanctity  in  such  candidates  as  did  not  die 
the  death  of  martyrs.  The  experience  gathered  in 
this  office  is  embodied  by  the  author  in  his  great 
work  on  Beatification  and  Canonization.  The 
account  of  heroic  virtue  in  general  is  found  in  the 
2ist  and  22nd  chapters  of  the  Third  Book:  in 
the  following  chapters  the  doctrine  is  applied  to 
the  theological  and  cardinal  virtues. 

There  is  no  need  to  descant  in  this  place  upon 
virtue  in  general,  for  the  common  understanding 
of  the  word  is  sufficiently  correct  for  our  purpose, 
but  we  may  give  the  definition  of  it  employed  by 
St.  Augustine  (De  libero  arbitr.  2,  19,  50;  P.L.  32, 
1268),  and  after  him  by  St.  Thomas  (Sum.  Theol. 
i.  2.  q.  55.  art.  4.) :  it  is  "  a  good  quality  of  the 
mind,  directing  life  rightly,  of  which  none  make  a 


350  SANCTITY   OF  THE  CHURCH.  [231 

bad  use,  which  God  works  in  us  without  ourselves:" 
nor  need  we  go  into  details  about  the  theological 
virtues  of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  which  relate 
directly  to  God,  and  the  need  of  which  is  known 
by  Revelation  alone ;  nor  about  the  cardinal  virtues 
of  Prudence,  Justice,  Temperance,  and  Fortitude, 
which  are  convenient  heads  under  which  to  arrange 
all  other  virtues :  our  concern  is  to  see  what  is  the 
special  character  which  these  virtues  must  have 
before  we  cin  say  they  are  present  in  an  heroic 
degree. 

This  word  "  heroic "  is  borrowed  by  Christian 
theologians  from  the  heathen  poets  and  philosophers 
of  antiquity,  who  gave  the  name  of  "  hero "  to 
those  men  whose  great  achievements  were  held  to 
prove  that  they  were  the  children  of  the  gods,  or 
were  raised  to  an  equality  with  them.  (See  Horace, 
Odes,  3,  3.)  The  abstract  possibility  of  high  virtue 
among  men  who  have  not  faith  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned by  any  but  those  who  hold  the  condemned 
doctrines  that  all  the  works  of  infidels  are  sins 
(Bains,  25 ;  Denz.  905),  and  that  an  infidel  neces- 
sarily sins  in  all  he  does  (Alexander  VIII.;  Denz. 
1165),  the  justice  of  which  condemnations  is  shown 
in  the  Treatise  on  Grace.  It  may  be  doubted,  how- 
ever, whether  such  virtue  ever  was  in  fact  attained  : 
it  is  true  that  we  read  of  acts  of  what  looks  like  a 
high  degree  of  temperance  and  the  like,  but  it  seems 
probable  that  the  very  persons  to  whom  these  acts 
are  ascribed  were  at  the  same  time  the  slaves  of 
habits  of  vice  with  which  it  is  impossible  for  true 
virtue  to  co-exist. 


23i]  HEROIC  SANCTITY.  351 

All  true  virtue  must  be  founded  on  humility,  and 
humility  is  a  character  as  far  removed  as  possible 
from  the  idea  of  one  whom  the  heathen  called  a 
hero.  On  this  account,  St.  Augustine  hesitates  and 
apologizes,  as  for  a  bold  novelty,  when  he  ventures 
to  speak  of  the  Martyrs  as  the  Heroes  of  the 
Christians.  (De  Civit.  Dei.  10,  21 ;  P.L.  41,  299.) 
But  when  Christian  ideas  had  replaced  the  ideas  of 
Paganism  in  the  minds  of  men,  the  term  "  hero  " 
was  felt  to  be  suitable  as  a  description  of  Martyrs, 
from  whom  it  was  transferred  to  Confessors  and 
other  Saints. 

The  explanation  of  what  constitutes  an  heroic 
grade  of  virtue  is  given  in  various  forms  of  phrase 
by  various  theologians,  but  in  substance  all  agree 
that  virtue  is  to  be  called  heroic  when  it  rises 
conspicuously  above  the  measure  that  is  common 
among  men  who  lead  good  lives.  This  account,  it 
is  true,  does  not  touch  the  essence  of  the  matter, 
but  it  gives  a  description  which  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose.  We  say  then  that  within  the  body  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  there  will  always  be  not  only 
many  who  belong  to  the  Soul,  in  the  sense  explained 
before  (n.  187),  who  are  friends  of  God  and  live 
lives  of  ordinary  virtue,  but  also  that  there  will 
always  be  some  whose  virtue  is  of  a  higher  stamp, 
and  will  show  itself  from  time  to  time  by  acts  which 
surpass  the  ordinary  standard :  just  as  in  an  army 
we  may  expect  that  there  are  many  who  never  for  a 
moment  think  of  neglecting  their  duty  and  failing  to 
face  the  enemy,  while  there  are  some  who  only  wait 
for  an  occasion  to  offer  itself,  when  their  military 


35«  SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [231 

virtue  will  make  itself  manifest  by  conspicuous  acts 
of  valour. 

232.  Tfo  Church  holy  in  her  members. — In  n.  230 
we  have  proved  that  the  Church  of  Christ  must  be 
holy,  and  this  proof  might  dispense  us  from  saying 
anything  about  the  holiness  of  her  members,  for 
every  society  is  made  up  of  its  members.  But  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  call  attention  to  some  texts 
of  Scripture,  merely  as  specimens  of  what  might  be 
produced,  which  seem  to  point  more  directly  to  the 
holiness  of  the  members  of  the  Church  :  a  holiness 
which  will  assuredly  from  time  to  time  show  itself 
in  the  notable  and  illustrious  deeds  of  those  men  in 
whom  the  work  of  Christ  is  done  with  the  greatest 
perfection.  Thus,  the  7ist  Psalm  undoubtedly  refers 
to  Christ,  whether  directly  or  through  Solomon,  as 
a  type  of  Him  (as  has  been  held  by  almost  all 
interpreters,  following  the  ancient  Chaldee  Targum) ; 
and  in  the  seventh  verse  we  read  :  "  In  His  days 
shall  justice  spring  up,  and  abundance  of  peace,  till 
the  moon  be  taken  away."  And  Isaias  foresees  the 
time  of  the  coming  of  Christ  (Ixii.  n,  12),  when 
"  it  shall  be  heard  in  the  ends  of  the  earth  that  the 
Saviour  cometh,  and  they  shall  call  them,  The  holy 
people,  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord."  See,  too, 
Psalm  ii.  6 ;  Isaias  xi.  6 ;  liv.  7.  Let  this  language 
be  contrasted  with  the  words  of  pleading  which  are 
addressed  by  God  to  sinners  in  so  many  passages 
of  Scripture,  as  in  Ezechiel  (xviii.  30) :  "  Be  con- 
verted and  do  penance  for  all  your  iniquities,  and 
iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin  :  "  the  broad  line  of 
separation  betw^M  the  members  of  the  Church  and 


232]        THE  CHURCH  HOLY  IN  HER   MEMBERS.          353 

those  who  have  not  as  yet  the  happiness  to  belong 
to  her  will  be  felt  at  once. 

The  same  conclusion  follows  from  the  promise 
of  Christ  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20)  to  be  with  His 
Church  all  days,  in  teaching  men  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  He  had  commanded :  and  His 
longing  for  the  fulfilment  of  His  work  (St.  Luke 
xii.  50),  and  that  the  work  of  His  Church  might 
produce  abiding  fruit,  could  not  be  altogether  frus- 
trated. The  Parables  of  the  Field  (St.  Matt,  xiii.), 
the  Net  (ibid),  the  House  (i  Timothy  ii.  20),  show 
that  in  the  Church  are  found  good  fruit,  good  fish, 
and  vessels  of  gold  and  silver. 

For  the  passages  of  the  Fathers  that  teach  that 
there  must  at  all  times  be  many  holy  men  in  the 
Church,  we  must  refer  as  usual  to  Waterworth's 
Faith  of  Catholics.  It  must  suffice  to  quote 
St.  Irenaeus,  in  whose  work  against  heresy  the 
whole  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Church  is 
to  be  found :  "  Where  is  the  Church,  there  is  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  and  where  is  the  Spirit  of  God, 
there  is  the  Church  and  all  grace:  the  Spirit  is 
Truth."  (St.  Irenaeus,  Adv.  Har.  3,  24,  z;  P.G.j, 
966.) 

233.  Worldly  Success. — It  is  perhaps  not  useless 
to  remark  that  the  success  which  is  promised  to  the 
Church  is  success  in  her  work  of  applying  to  the 
souls  of  men  the  redemption  wrought  by  Christ : 
and  of  working  in  them  such  likenesses  of  God  as 
by  His  grace  may  be  possible.  It  is  true  that  kings 
shall  be  the  nursing  fathers  of  the  Church,  and 
queens  her  nurses  (Isaias  xlix.  23),  but  she  does 
X  VOL.  I. 


354  SANCTITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [233 

not  expect  worldly  greatness,  or  to  do  deeds  that 
win  the  applause  of  men.  She  knows  that  better 
is  a  child  that  is  poor  and  wise  than  a  king  that  is 
old  and  foolish  (Eccles.  iv.  13) :  that  it  is  well  rather 
to  be  an  abject  in  the  house  of  God  than  to  dwell 
in  the  tabernacles  of  sinners  (Psalm  Ixxxiii.  n) : 
and  although  the  faithful  observation  of  her  precepts 
would  advance  the  true  good  of  man  in  all  respects, 
and  contempt  of  these  precepts  leads  to  the  ruin  of 
civil  society,  yet  she  does  not  seek  her  saints  among 
those  persons  who  make  themselves  famous  by 
increasing  the  wealth  of  themselves  or  of  their 
country,  or  by  winning  military  glory  or  the  like : 
she  finds  that  these  saints  and  heroes  of  the  world 
are  often  the  slaves  of  disgraceful  appetites ;  and 
that  even  if  free  from  the  grosser  vices  they  are 
apt  to  be  far  from  having,  or  even  aspiring  to  any 
likeness  to  Him  Who  was  meek  and  humble  of 
heart.  (St.  Matt.  xi.  29.) 

234.  Objections. — Very  few  objections  are  brought 
by  Christians  against  the  doctrine  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  must  be  holy  in  her  members,  for  no  one 
who  accepts  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  of  God, 
and  the  teaching  of  Christ  as  a  Divine  message, 
will  allege  that  His  work  has  been  an  entire  failure. 
That  some  members  of  the  body  of  the  Church  are 
not  holy  is  unhappily  true,  but  this  does  not  dis- 
prove our  doctrine  that  many  are  holy,  and  our 
proofs  go  no  further  than  showing  what  is  the 
tendency  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Church,  which  tendency  will  certainly  not  be  alto- 
gether frustrated :  nor  are  we  troubled  by  fear  lest 


234]  OBJECTIONS.  35  j 

it  should  some  day  be  shown  that  the  greater 
number  of  her  members  are  in  sin ;  for  this  cannot 
be  known  without  a  revelation  such  as  there  is  no 
reason  to  expect,  and  even  if  the  revelation  were 
given,  we  remember  that  an  institution  is  to  be 
judged  by  the  effect  of  its  action  upon  those  men 
who  are  imbued  with  its  spirit,  not  upon  those  who 
pertinaciously  resist  its  influence. 

235.  Miracles. — The  favour  of  God  to  His  Church 
is  shown  not  only  by  the  grace  imparted  to  her 
members,  by  which  they  all  may  become  holy,  but 
also  by  His  imparting  to  some  among  them  a  share 
in  His  own  power  over  nature  which  is  called  the 
gift  of  miracles.  When  speaking  in  our  first 
Treatise  of  the  Credentials  of  the  Christian  Revela- 
tion (chapters  ii.  iii.  iv.)  we  recapitulated  the  proofs 
of  the  possibility  of  physical  miracles  furnished  by 
Catholic  philosophy,  and  we  proved  historically 
that  the  Divine  Mission  of  Christ  was  attested  by 
such  miracles.  There  is  no  need  to  repeat  this 
matter,  in  the  present  connection,  for  we  now 
accept  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  as  definitive 
(see  n.  162) ;  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  the 
Scriptures  tell  of  cases  where  physical  miracles 
were  worked  by  Christ  and  by  mere  men.  Our 
business  now  is  to  show  that  Christ  has  promised 
that  the  gift  of  miracles  should  continue  in  His 
Church. 

Some  of  the  gratuitous  gifts  of  God  to  the  souls 
of  men  are  given  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the 
recipient,  and  these  will  be  discussed  in  full  in  our 
Treatise  on  Grace.  Others  are  given  primarily  for 


356  SANCTITY  OP  THE  CHURCH.  [235 

the  benefit  of  others,  and  to  enable  the  recipient  to 
fulfil  some  office  in  the  Church,  and  some  of  these 
are  enumerated  by  St.  Paul,  (i  Cor.  xii.)  They  have 
received  from  theologians  the  name  of  "graces 
gratuitously  given,"  a  tautology  justified  by  usage ; 
and  they  include  the  gift  of  prophecy,  the  gift  of 
tongues,  and  among  the  rest,  the  grace  of  healing 
and  the  working  of  miracles,  of  which  St.  Thomas 
treats  in  the  Summa.  (2.  2.  q.  188.)  The  Saint 
teaches  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  providing  all  things 
necessary  for  the  Church,  grants  the  word  of 
wisdom,  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  may  be 
preached :  and  that  the  same  Spirit  grants  the 
grace  of  healing,  in  attestation  of  the  truth  of  the 
preacher's  word,  as  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  con- 
firmed the  word  of  the  Apostles  with  signs  that 
followed  (St.  Mark  xvi.  20.)  This  mode  of  proof, 
which  was  used  in  the  beginning,  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  nature  of  man,  more  especially  when 
the  miracle  takes  the  form  of  the  cure  of  hopeless 
diseases.  The  circumstances  of  each  miracle  must 
be  carefully  considered,  not  merely  that  we  may 
distinguish  it  from  merely  natural  wonders  and 
from  the  illusions  of  Satan,  but  also  to  determine 
what  is  the  truth  which  it  attests.  Sometimes  it 
attests  the  sanctity  of  a  man  who  is  still  living,  and 
at  whose  word  it  is  wrought,  and  of  course  sinners 
cannot  work  miracles  of  this  sort :  so  also,  if  it  be 
wrought  on  the  invocation  of  the  aid  of  one  who 
has  passed  out  of  this  world :  but  if  the  miracle 
attest  a  true  doctrine  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  its 
being  wrought  at  the  word  of  one  who  is  in  sin,  for 


a35]  MIRACLES.  35? 

the  words,  "God  doth  not  hear  sinners"  (St.  John 
ix.  31)  were  spoken  by  one  who  had  been  healed 
of  bodily  blindness,  but  who  was  still  spiritually 
blind,  and  did  not  understand  the  fulness  of  the 
mercy  of  God  in  hearing  the  prayer  of  all  men, 
as  St.  Augustine  observes  (Tr.  in  Joan.  44,  n.  13; 
P.L.  35,  1718.) 

Such  is  the  general  account  given  by  St.  Thomas 
of  the  reasons  why  this  gift  of  miracles  is  granted 
to  some  in  the  Church.  In  accordance  with  his 
usual  plan,  he  does  not  give  reasons  for  believing 
that  the  grant  is  actually  made,  for  he  made  it  his 
business  to  explain  and  co-ordinate  the  Catholic 
doctrine,  but  not  to  prove  it,  in  the  manner  that 
has  been  usual  since  the  time  when  heresy  first  took 
the  form  of  denying  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
(Sum.  i.  i.  8.)  We,  however,  must  give  the  proof, 
and  it  is  not  difficult,  for  the  promises  made  by 
Christ  are  most  explicit.  Thus  He  said  (St.  John 
xiv.  12),  "  He  that  believeth  in  Me,  the  works  that 
I  do,  he  also  shall  do,  and  greater  than  these  shall 
he  do,"  and  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  work "  is 
proved  by  comparison  with  many  places  in  the  same 
Gospel,  (v.  36,  vii.  3,  &c.)  Again  (St.  Mark  xvi.  17), 
"These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe.  In 
My  Name  they  shall  cast  out  devils:  they  shall 
speak  with  new  tongues:  they  shall  take  up 
serpents:  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it 
shall  not  hurt  them :  they  shall  lay  their  hands 
upon  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover."  In  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  we  read  of  many  occasions  when 
the  preaching  was  confirmed  by  miracle,  as  notably 


3J8  SANCTITY  OP  THE  CHURCH. 

when  the  lame  man  was  healed  at  the  Beautiful 
Gate  of  the  Temple  (Acts  iii.) ;  the  force  of  which 
attestation  was  felt  by  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim.  (Acts 
iv.  16.)  Such,  then,  was  at  one  time,  the  mode  in 
which  God  dealt  with  His  Church,  and  if  any  one 
assert  that  a  change  has  been  introduced,  the  burden 
is  on  him  to  show  when  and  where  this  took  place, 
or  at  least  to  give  some  reason  to  believe  that  there 
has  been  a  change.  This  he  will  be  wholly  unable 
to  do.  We  believe  that  the  gift  of  physical  miracles 
is  still  granted  from  time  to  time,  when  God  sees 
that  it  is  needed  in  attestation  of  the  truth,  as  a 
supplement  to  the  moral  miracles  which  are  of 
incessant  occurrence. 

No  objections,  as  it  seems,  can  be  raised  to  the 
doctrine  of  this  paragraph,  except  by  such  as  deny 
the  possibility  of  miracles,  and  the  authority  of  the 
Scriptures:  and  with  these,  as  just  remarked,  we 
have  not  now  to  deal ;  and  by  such  as  rest  on  the 
assertion  that  no  miracles  do  occur  at  the  present 
day,  and  who  are  therefore  forced  to  find  some 
meaning  for  the  promises  of  Christ  (St.  John  xiv. 
12 ;  St.  Mark  xvi.  17)  and  for  the  doctrine  of  St. 
Paul  (i  Cor.  xii.  10),  different  from  that  which 
appears  on  the  face  of  the  words.  We,  on  the 
contrary,  assert  that  there  is  no  reason  to  depart 
from  the  literal  meaning  of  the  promises,  and  that 
the  gift  of  miracles  has  not  been  withdrawn  from 
the  Church  :  but  this  discussion  will  be  conveniently 
reserved  for  our  ninth  chapter,  in  which  we  shall 
show  what  communion  of  Christians  it  is  that 


235]  MIRACLES.  359 

possesses  the  properties  which  we  prove  to  belong 
to  the  Church  founded  by  Christ,  (n.  245.) 

236.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
shown  that  the  Church  is  holy  in  her  Author,  her 
end,  her  doctrine,  and  her  members :  many  members 
of  the  Body  of  the  Church  living  in  the  habitual 
friendship  of  God,  while  the  sanctity  of  some 
reaches  the  heroic  degree,  showing  itself  in  acts 
of  virtue  beyond  the  spiritual  strength  of  ordinary 
men  ;  and  that  Christ  has  promised  that  the  gift  of 
miracles  shall  not  be  wanting  to  His  Church. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CATHOLICITY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

237.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we 
shall  explain  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  Catholic, 
and  shall  show  that  to  be  Catholic,  in  the  theo- 
logical sense,  is  an  essential,  indefeasible,  property 
of  the   Church   of  Christ.     The   argument  of  the 
chapter  is  taken  from  Scripture  and  history. 

238.  The  Meaning  of  "  Catholic."—"  Catholic  " 
is  a  word  of  Greek  origin,  signifying  "  throughout 
the  whole,"  and  is  used  in  this  sense  in  various  con- 
nections by  heathen  writers  both  Greek  and  Latin, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  dictionaries.     The  word  it* 
found   in   the   same   general    sense   in   the   earliest 
Christian  writers:  thus,  St. Justin  Martyr  speaks  of 
the  Catholic,  or  general,  resurrection  (Dial.  c.  Tryph 
81  ;  P.G.  6,  669),  and  Tertullian  of  the  Catholic, 
or  all-embracing,  goodness  of  God.  (Adv.  Marcion, 
2,  17;  P.L.  2,  304.)     The  first  occasions  where  we 
find  the  word  used  in  the  sense  that  is  now  familiar, 
seem  to  be  the  declaration   in  the  Epistle  of  St. 
Ignatius  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna  that  wherever 
Christ   is,  there   is  the  Catholic  Church  (P.G.  5, 
713) ;  and  the  letter  in  which  the  same  Church  of 
Smyrna  describes  the  martyrdom  of  the  holy  Bishop 


238]  THE  MEANING  OF  "CATHOLIC."  361 

Polycarp,  which  is  addressed  to  "all  the  parishes 
of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  in  every  place,"  that 
is  to  say,  to  the  local  Churches,  the  communities  in 
each  town  which  adhered  to  the  Universal  Church. 
(In  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  4, 15 ;  P.G.  20,  340.)  These 
testimonies  belong  to  the  second  century.  By  the 
time  that  the  Donatist  controversy  arose,  the  use  of 
the  word  had  become  so  well  established,  perhaps 
because  it  is  employed  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  that 
the  schismatics  could  not  venture  to  discard  it,  and 
yet  in  its  accepted  sense  it  was  plainly  not  applic- 
able to  a  sect  confined  to  a  narrow  portion  of  Africa : 
they  were,  therefore,  compelled  to  invent  a  new 
meaning  for  the  old  word,  and  explain  that  all  were 
Catholics  who  observed  all  the  commandments  and 
used  all  the  Sacraments.  St.  Augustine,  on  the  other 
hand,  protested  that  nothing  was  Catholic  but  what 
is  diffused  throughout  the  world,  of  which  none  can 
be  ignorant,  for  it  cannot  be  hid.  (Epist.  lii.  i ;  P.L. 
33,  194,  and  elsewhere  continually.) 

It  may  be  useful  to  remark  that  the  word 
Catholic  did  not  come  into  the  form  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed  employed  at  Rome  and  in  the  West  until 
somewhat  late.  (Denz.  i — 13.) 

239.  The  Church  of  Christ  Catholic. — It  will  not 
be  questioned  that  the  Church  of  Christ  teaches  all 
His  doctrine,  inculcates  all  His  precepts,  and  uses 
all  His  Sacraments :  but  we  maintain  that  besides 
all  this,  the  Church  is  by  her  destiny  and  con- 
stitution suited  for  all  regions  of  the  earth  and 
all  races  of  men,  that  she  is  always  conspicuous 
among  Christian  communities  for  her  diffusion  and 


362  CATHOLICITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [239 

numbers,  and  that  she  will  before  the  close  of  history 
become  known  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  proof 
of  this  doctrine  is  found  in  the  prophecies  and 
promises  which  we  read  in  the  Scripture,  and  which 
are  so  plain  that  it  will  be  enough  to  transcribe  a 
very  few. 

I.  In  Abraham,  "shall  all  the  kindred  of  the 
earth  be  blessed "  (Genesis  xii.  3),  on  which  text 
we    have  the    inspired    commentary  of   St.  Paul. 
(Galat.  Hi.  8.) 

II.  The  Gentiles  shall  be  given  as  an  inheritance 
to  Christ.  (Psalm  ii.  8  and  Hebrews  i.  5.) 

III.  Christ  shall  reign  from  sea  to  sea:  all  the 
kings  of  the  earth  shall  adore  Him.  (Psalm  Ixxi.  8, 
n,  and  see  n.  232.) 

IV.  All  nations  shall  flow  to  the  Church,  and 
many  people  shall  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord.  (Isaias  ii.  2.) 

V.  The  strength  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  to 
the  Church.  (Isaias  Ix.  5.) 

VI.  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going 
down,  the  name  of  God  is  great  among  the  Gentiles, 
and  in  every  place  there  is  Sacrifice.  (Malach.  i.  ii.) 

VII.  Going,  therefore,  teach  all  nations  .  .  .  and 
behold,  I  am  with  you.  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20,  and 
see  n.  206,  ii.) 

We  are  compelled  to  be  content  with  quoting 
the  few  most  salient  words  of  these  texts.  The 
force  of  the  proof  will  be  better  appreciated  if  the 
whole  of  each  passage  is  read,  and  compared  with 
the  parallels  referred  to  in  the  margins  of  our  Bibles. 
In  this  way  it  will  become  plain  that  the  Church  of 


339]  THE  CHURCH  Of  CHRIST  CATHOLIC.  363 

the  New  Testament  was  destined  to  be  of  world-wide 
extent,  not  confined  to  the  Jews  or  to  any  other 
nation  or  nations,  but  embracing  all  the  Gentiles 
and  all  lands;  to  be,  in  fact,  of  its  very  nature, 
Catholic ;  and  this  diffusion  will  be  such  as  to  force 
itself  on  the  attention  of  men,  for  the  things  described 
cannot  be  done  in  a  corner. 

340.  Early  Testimonies. — The  nature  of  the  diffu- 
sion promised  will  be  better  understood  if  we  consider 
some  testimonies  that  show  the  great  effect  already 
produced  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  before  the 
end  of  the  second  century  after  the  Birth  of  Christ. 
We  will  cite  two  places  from  early  writers. 

I.  "In  every  nation,  Greek  or  barbarian,  of  them 
that  dwell  in  waggons,  or  houseless  nomads,  or  tent- 
dwellers,  prayers  and  thanksgivings  are  offered  to 
the  Father  and  Creator  of  all  in  the  Name  of  Jesus 
the  Crucified."  (St.  Justin  Martyr,  Dial.  c.  Tryph.  117; 
P.G.  6,  747.)  Josephus  tells  us  that  the  Jewish  race 
was  found  everywhere  (Bell.  Jud.  2.),  but  St.  Justin 
urges  against  his  Jewish   adversary  the   far  wider 
diffusion  of  the  Christian  faith. 

II.  Tertullian  remarks  that  ignorance  of  Chris- 
tianity was  the  chief  hindrance  to  conversions ;  as 
soon  as  men  came  to  know  they  ceased  to  hate,  and 
conversion    followed.      The    result    was    that    the 
enemies  of  the  faith   found  with   sorrow  that   the 
towns,  the  open  country,  the  villages,  the  islands, 
were  full  of  Christians.  (Apol.  i ;  P.L.  i,  262.) 

We  have  already  cited  other  passages  to  the 
same  effect  in  another  connection,  (nn.  41,  67.) 
For  the  Fathers,  see  Waterworth's  Faith  of  Catholics. 


364  CATHOLICITY   OF  THE  CHURCH.  (.241 

241.  Force  of  the  Proof. — The  description  given 
in  these  texts  of  the  Church  of  Christ  would  not  be 
verified,  if  at  any  time  it  were  surpassed  in  numbers 
and  diffusion  by  any  other  communion  claiming  to 
be   Christian.      But   the   texts   do   not   necessarily 
imply  that  the  Church  will  always  surpass  all  other 
Christian  communions  taken  together,  although  we 
believe  that  she  has  done  and  always  will  do  so.     It 
seems  most  natural  to  understand  the  texts  as  point- 
ing to  some  yet  future  time  when  the  Church  will  be 
conspicuous  in  every  nation  of  the  earth :  but  it  is 
to  be  borne  in-  mind  that  some  theologians  think 
that  no  more  is  promised  than  that  each  nation  in 
its  turn  will  be  subdued  to  the  Gospel,  while  we 
cannot  feel  sure  that  nations  which  have  had  the 
faith  and  have  lost  it,  as  is  the  case  in  northern 
Africa,  will  be  again  offered  the  priceless  treasure 
which  they  have  despised. 

Some  objections  to  our  doctrine  that  might  be 
considered  in  this  place  are  more  conveniently 
reserved  for  the  ninth  chapter,  (nn.  256,  258.)  Others 
have  been  answered  by  anticipation,  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Visibility  of  the  Church,  (n.  170.) 

242.  Recapitulation. — In     this     chapter,     after 
explaining   the   theological    meaning  of   the   word 
Catholic,  we  showed  from  Scripture  that  the  Church 
of  Christ   was   essentially   Catholic,  and   that   she 
became  conspicuous  in  diffusion  and  numbers  before 
the  close  of  the  second  Christian  century. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

APOSTOLICITY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

243.  Subject  of  Chapter. — In  this  chapter,  we  shall 
explain  the  sense  in  which  the  Church  is  declared 
in  the  Nicene  Creed  to  be  Apostolic. 

244.  Meaning  of  "Apostle." — The  original  mean- 
ing of  the  word  "  Apostle  "  is  "  one  sent,"  an  envoy, 
messenger;  and  in  this  sense  the  word  is  freely  used 
by  Greek  writers.    But  the  word  received  its  special, 
ecclesiastical    meaning    when    our   Lord    chose    it 
to  denote  the  office  which,  early  in  His  Public  Life, 
He  conferred  upon  a  chosen  number  of  His  immediate 
followers.     The  account  of  their  appointment,  with 
the  list  of  their  names  and  the  charge  they  received, 
is  found  in  all  the  synoptic  Gospels.  (St.  Matt.  x. ; 
St.  Mark  iii.;  St.  Luke  vi.)     The  selection  was  made 
after  a  whole  night  spent  in  the  prayer  of  God  :  the 
first,  as  we  learn  from  St.  Matthew  (x.  2.),  Simon 
who  is  called  Peter,  with  eleven  others:  these  He 
named  Apostles  (St.  Luke  vi.  13) ;    they  were  to  be 
with  Him,  and  that  He  might  send  them  to  preach, 
and  He  gave  them  power  to  heal  the  sick,  raise  the 
dead,  cleanse  the  lepers,  cast  out  devils :  a  power 
which  was  exercised  by  them  (St.  Mark  vi.  13),  as 
also    by  the    larger    body    of    disciples   who  sub- 


366  ATOSTOLICITY  OF   THE  CHURCH.  [t^ 

sequently  received  the  same  gift.  (St.  Luke  x.  17.) 
It  was  to  these  Apostles  that  Christ  gave  the  final 
commission  to  teach  all  nations,  promising  to  be 
with  them  in  their  work  (St.  Matt,  xxviii.  16 — 20), 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world. 

After  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  it  is  clear  that 
the  Apostles  were  regarded  as  occupying  a  peculiar 
position  in  the  Church :  this  is  shown  by  the  care 
taken  to  fill  up  the  number  when  one  of  the  company 
had  forfeited  the  office  by  his  crime  (Acts  i.  21 — 26), 
and  we  observe  that  it  was  held  necessary  to  choose 
one  who  had  himself  long  known  Christ,  and  who 
should  be  a  witness  to  the  Resurrection.  St.  Paul, 
who,  with  St.  Barnabas,  was  divinely  set  apart  for 
the  same  work  (Acts  xiii.  2),  found  it  necessary  to 
assert  his  claim,  and  to  point  out  that  he  had  seen 
Christ  (i  Cor.  ix.  i),  from  Whom  he  received  the 
Gospel  that  he  preached  (Galat.  i.  12.) ;  and  the 
Apostles  are  spoken  of  as  being  in  a  special  sense 
the  foundation  of  the  Church.  (Ephes.  ii.  20 ;  Apoc. 
xxi.  24.) 

245.  Later  Use. — In  all  ages  of  the  Church  the 
name  Apostle  has  been  applied,  specially  to  the 
Twelve  chosen  disciples  of  Christ,  and  to  those  of 
whom  we  read  in  Scripture  that  they  were  associated 
with  the  Twelve.  The  records  that  remain  to  us 
concerning  the  careers  of  these  men  are  scanty  in 
the  extreme,  except  in  the  cases  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  with  whom  St.  Luke  concerned  himself  in 
the  inspired  book  of  the  Acts.  But  we  are  sure  that 
they  spent  their  lives  in  preaching  the  truths  which 
they  had  learned,  that  God  was  with  them  in  the 


245]  LATER   USE.  -367 

work,  and  confirmed  the  word  with  signs  that 
followed  (St.  Mark  xvi.  20) ;  and  that  their  success 
was  so  speedy  and  glorious  as  to  admit  of  being 
described  in  the  terms  that  we  have  quoted  from 
writers  of  the  following  century,  (nn.  41,  67,  240.) 

All  accounts  agree  in  representing  that  St.  John 
alone  of  the  Apostles  died  a  natural  death,  the  others 
ending  their  lives  by  martyrdom.  There  is  a  story 
told  concerning  them  which  is  intrinsically  probable 
and  may  well  be  true,  although  the  direct  testimony 
for  it  is  weak.  Perhaps  the  earliest  authority  for 
it  is  Rufinus,  who  died  in  410 ;  he  wrote  a  Com- 
mentary on  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  he  says  (n.  2 ; 
P.L.  21,  337)  that  the  Apostles  came  to  a  common 
agreement  as  to  the  standard  of  the  preaching  which 
they  were  about  to  begin,  lest  after  their  separation 
they  should  give  different  accounts  of  the  faith  to 
which  they  called  men.  So  coming  together,  and 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  contributed  each 
an  article  to  what  became  the  common  creed 
proposed  to  all  who  sought  Baptism.  Later  writers 
improve  on  the  story,  and  tell  us  exactly  what  point 
is  due  to  each  of  the  Twelve,  and  their  accounts 
have  found  their  way  into  Christian  art ;  they  are, 
however,  of  no  historical  value.  It  need  hardly  be 
observed  that  the  precaution  was  directed  against 
the  risk  of  one  teaching  something  to  his  neophytes 
which  others  omitted  as  needless:  such  accounts 
would  differ,  but  not  be  contradictory.  St.  Thomas 
(Summa,  2.  2.  q.  I.  a.  6.)  explains  how  it  is  that  the 
one  faith  can  be  broken  up  into  articles  of  a 
creed. 


36S  APOSTOLICITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  ^45 

Those  Christian  communities,  or  local  Churches, 
which  could  boast  that  they  received  the  faith  from 
an  Apostle,  were  proud  of  the  circumstance,  for  it 
gave  peculiar  assurance  of  the  purity  of  their 
doctrine :  such  Churches  are  often  referred  to,  under 
the  name  of  Apostolic  Churches.  (St.  Augustine, 
Epist.  44,  Ad  Eleusium,  3;  P.L.  33,  175.) 

Many  saints  of  recent  times  who  have  done  much 
by  their  preaching  to  spread  the  Gospel  among  the 
heathen  have  sometimes  been  called  Apostles  :  thus 
St.  Augustine  is  the  Apostle  of  England,  St.  Francis 
Xavier  of  Japan,  and  so  on.  No  particular  signi- 
ficance attaches  to  the  title. 

246.  The  Church  Apostol:c. — The  promise  of 
Christ  to  be  with  His  Apostles  in  their  preaching 
until  the  end  of  the  world  was  not  fulfilled  in  their 
persons,  but  its  fulfilment  is  found  in  the  Divine 
assistance  given  to  the  Church  ;  and,  as  we  shall 
show  in  the  next  Treatise,  especially  to  the  Pope,  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter  as  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  whom 
the  fulness  of  the  Apostolic  dignity  still  exists  on 
earth. 

At  present  it  is  enough  to  observe  that  we  have 
shown  in  a  previous  chapter,  that  the  Church  has 
authority  to  teach,  that  she  is  infallible  in  her 
teaching,  and  that  there  is  in  her,  by  Divine  institu- 
tion, an  organized  hierarchy  with  authority  to 
gorern.  (nn.  200 — 211.)  The  seat  of  these  authori- 
ties is  found  in  the  body  of  Bishops,  who,  as  will  1  e 
proved  hereafter  (n.  295),  cannot  fail  to  be  in  union 
with  the  Roman  Pontiff;  and  the  authority  which 
has  come  to  the  Bishops  and  is  exercised  by  them, 


246]  THE   CHURCH  APOSTOLIC.  369 

is  none  other  than  that  which  was  bestowed  upon 
and  exercised  by  the  Apostles.  No  other  source  is 
possible,  unless  a  new  revelation  be  given :  and  this 
we  know  will  not  be.  (n.  113.) 

So  far  there  is  general  agreement  among 
Christians :  the  Church  of  Christ  must  in  some  way 
have  succeeded  to  the  Apostles.  A  Bishop  of  the 
present  day  has  his  authority  because  he  is  a 
successor  of  the  Apostles ;  whether  the  Church  he 
governs  be  an  Apostolic  Church  (n.  245),  or  have 
been  founded  by  one  who  came  with  Apostolic 
authority  derived  from  some  other  Church.  We  are 
not  now  speaking  of  that  episcopal  consecration 
which  is  necessary  before  any  one  is  capable  of 
doing  all  that  belongs  to  the  office  of  a  Bishop :  we 
shall  deal  with  this  when  speaking  of  the  Sacrament 
of  Order ;  but  the  authority  to  teach  and  to  govern 
may  belong  to  one  who  has  not  received  con- 
secration, while  it  cannot  belong  to  one  to  whom 
it  has  not  come  by  way  of  succession  from  the 
Apostles. 

Thus  we  are  brought  to  the  important  question, 
What  constitutes  true  succession  ?  by  what  test  are 
we  to  judge  whether  a  particular  claimant  is  or  is 
not  the  lawful  successor  of  one  concerning  whose 
authority  there  is  no  doubt?  If  this  question  be 
asked  in  the  abstract,  it  is  not  easy  to  give  an 
answer,  although  there  is  seldom  much  difficulty  in 
replying  as  regards  any  particular  case.  We  may, 
however,  say  in  general  that  the  rule  of  the  succes- 
sion must  be  the  old  and  acknowledged  rule ;  the 
claimant  who  asserts  that  the  rule  which  has  been 

Y  VOL.  I. 


370  APOSTOLICITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [24« 

observed  heretofore  is  unauthorized  and  bad,  may 
be  right  in  his  assertion,  but  he  cannot  be  said  to 
come  in  as  successor  ;  he  may  possibly  have  a  higher 
and  better  title,  but  the  succession  is  broken ;  the 
old  line  is  extinct,  a  new  line  has  come  in,  which 
must  show  its  credentials.  Another  test  is  to 
observe  how  far  the  claimant  is  recognized  by  others 
who  hold  similar  positions  by  an  undisputed  right. 
The  justice  of  these  negative  tests  will  be  seen  if  we 
think  of  the  case  of  a  person  who  claims  to  be  mayor 
of  a  town :  he  may  say,  for  example,  that  he  has 
been  elected  by  the  voice  of  the  people  at  large, 
whereas  his  predecessors  had  for  a  long  series  of 
years  been  nominated  by  the  lord  of  the  borough : 
we  may  perhaps  agree  with  him  that  his  title  is 
better  than  that  of  those  that  went  before  him,  but 
it  is  different :  he  is  the  first  of  a  new  line  on  whom 
rests  the  burden  of  proving  that  theirs  is  a  lawful 
title :  prescription  is  against  them ;  and  especially 
is  this  so,  if  it  be  found  that  none  of  the  surrounding 
mayors  regard  him  as  sitting  in  the  chair  of  their 
old  assoc  ate. 

247.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter,  the  nature 
of  the  Apostolic  office  is  explained,  and  the  Church 
is  shown  to  be  necessarily  Apostolic  in  doctrine  and 
in  government. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

NOTES   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

248.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter,  after 
explaining  how  the  properties  which  we  have  proved 
to  belong  to  the  Church  furnish  us  also  with  marks 
by  which  she  may   be  recognized,   we  shall  show 
that  no  Christian   community  shows  these    marks 
except  that  which  is  in  communion  with  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  ;  while  the  community  which  recognizes 
the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  possesses  them 
all  to  the  full. 

249.  Notes  of  the  Church. — We  have  shown  that 
Christ  was  a  Messenger  from  God,  and  in  due  time 
we  shall  show  that  He  was  in  truth  much  more. 
He  was  Himself  true  God  at  the  same  time  that 
He  was  true  Man  ;  but  it  is  enough  for  our  present 
purpose  to  say  that  He  spoke  with  the  authority  of 
God.     From  the  record  of  His  teaching  which  we 
find   in   the   Gospels — considered    merely   as  trust- 
worthy human  histories,  and  not  as  inspired  (n.  205) 
— and    in   other  monuments,  we  have   shown   that 
He  founded  a  visible  Church  (n.  168)  or  organized 
society,  the  membership  of  which   was  something 
not    purely    interior    but    also    exterior;    that    this 
Church  is  perennial,  destined  to  last  to  the  end  of 


3?a  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [249 

ime  (n.  166) ;  and  He  imposed  on  all  men  the  duty 
of  becoming  members  of  this  Church  (n.  181) ;  a 
duty  the  fulfilment  of  which  is  sometimes  impossible, 
through  ignorance  or  other  causes,  but  the  neglect 
of  which  is  in  all  cases  a  grievous  misfortune,  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  the  great  spiritual  blessings 
which  are  reserved  for  those  who  are  visibly  in  the 
communion  of  the  Church.  We  have  further  shown, 
in  the  four  chapters  preceding  the  present,  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  deservedly  called,  One,  Holy, 
Catholic,  and  Apostolic;  she  is  One  in  doctrine, 
worship,  and  government ;  she  is  Holy  in  her 
doctrine  and  discipline,  and  in  the  holiness  of  many 
of  her  members,  which  sometimes  is  seen  to  attain 
an  heroic  degree  of  virtue  and  to  be  attested  by 
miracles ;  she  is  Catholic  in  being  suited  and  spread 
to  all  the  regions  and  nations  of  the  earth,  and  in 
conspicuously  outnumbering  any  other  communion 
of  followers  of  Christ,  and  lastly,  she  is  Apostolic, 
being  governed  by  a  divinely  constituted  hierarchy, 
the  members  of  which  from  generation  to-generation 
receive  their  authority  from  their  predecessors. 

It  follows  that  among  the  Christian  communities 
that  we  see  around  us,  there  is  one  and  one  only 
which  is  the  true  Church  founded  by  Christ,  which 
it  is  the  duty  of  all  men  to  enter,  and  to  obey ;  that 
this  one  community  has  the  properties  that  have 
been  enumerated,  and  that  no  other  Christian 
community  has  these  properties.  In  view  of  the 
duty  and  advantage  of  membership,  it  is  necessary 
to  discover  which  this  one  community  is. 

It  is   here  that  the   properties  which  we  have 


249]  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  373 

enumerated  prove  to  be  important.  They  are  not 
merely  internal  invisible  characters,  such  as  the 
perennity,  of  which  we  are  assured  by  the  Divine 
promise  alone,  for  no  man  can  foresee  the  future 
with  certainty;  nor  are  they  characters  which  can 
be  shared  by  other  societies,  as  visibility  can ;  but 
they  are  Divine  gifts  to  the  Church  and  to  the 
Church  alone,  of  such  nature  that  they  display 
themselves  visibly  and  unmistakeably,  serving  as 
guides  to  make  known  to  the  inquirer  where  he  is 
to  recognize  the  Church  which  has  the  Divine  claim 
to  his  submission.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  four 
properties  enumerated  are  said  to  furnish  notes  or 
badges  distinguishing  the  true  Church ;  and  it  is  in 
this  way  that  they  have  been  used  by  the  theologians 
ever  since  the  first  rise  of  this  fundamental  contro- 
versy. Cardinal  Bellarmine  in  his  Controversies 
(torn.  2,  lib.  4)  used  fifteen  Notes,  but  these  can 
be  conveniently  reduced  to  the  four  which  are 
mentioned  in  the  Nicene  Creed. 

250.  Christian  Communities  Classified. — We  know 
that  a  large  number  of  communities  exist  in  the 
world,  all  professing  to  be  the^  followers  of  Christ. 
We  have  to  study  these  in  order  to  discover  which 
among  them  bears  the  badges,  by  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  to  be  known; 
and  before  we  can  do  this,  some  classification  is 
necessary,  for  otherwise  we  shall  be  involved  in 
much  needless  repetition.  First  then,  there  is  the 
community  which  glories  in  submission  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff  as  Vicar  of  Christ,  who  has  received 
from  God  immediate,  ordinary  jurisdiction  over  the 


374  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [250 

whole  flock  (n.  286) ;  then,  several  communities 
may  conveniently  be  spoken  of  collectively  as  the 
Eastern  Church,  whose  adherents  are  found  chiefly 
among  the  Russians  and  Greeks ;  next  we  may 
reckon  the  Established  Church  of  England,  with  the 
offshoots  that  exist  in  all  countries  where  English 
is  .spoken :  we  shall  speak  of  these  as  Prelatic 
communions;  and  lastly,  there  are  multitudinous 
sects  existing  in  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  in 
northern  Europe,  the  United  States  of  America  and 
elsewhere,  all  of  whom  may  for  our  purposes  be 
regarded  as  one:  we  will  use  the  word  Unprelatic 
to  designate  all  of  these,  for  this  word  marks  a 
feature  that  is  common  to  them  all,  that  they  refuse 
to  recognize  the  authority  of  any  order  of  men 
corresponding  to  Catholic  Bishops,  and  it  is  this 
refusal  which,  historically,  has  been  the  chief  cause 
of  their  severance  from  the  Prelatic.  In  England 
they  are  called  Dissenters  or  Nonconformists,  as 
being  Protestants  who  dissent  from  the  Established 
Church  and  refuse  to  conform  to  it.  We  will 
consider  these  in  order,  and  it  will  be  convenient 
to  begin  with  the  last-named. 

251.  The  Unprelatic. — Few  words  are  needed  to 
show  that  no  sect  among  the  Unprelatic  has  the 
Notes  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  certainly 
have  not  unity  of  faith,  for  even  among  those  that 
exist  in  England  there  are  some  score  of  substantial 
differences  of  doctrine,  besides  minuter  shades 
innumerable;  and  the  diversity  in  other  countries 
where  these  people  are  found  is  at  least  as  great  as 
here.  Nor  is  this  wonderful,  for  they  agree  in  not 


251]  THE    UNPRELATIC.  37.5 

acknowledging  any  external  objective  principle  of 
unity,  and  boast  that  they  have  liberty  of  private 
judgment,  without  being  subject  to  any  control  in 
matters  of  faith.  They  have  unity  of  worship,  in 
the  sense  that  they  do  not  hesitate  to  attend  the 
services  in  chapels  belonging  to  other  sects  than 
their  own,  but  most  among  them  refuse  to  admit 
any  one  to  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
without  inquiry  into  his  belief  and  life.  With  few 
exceptions  they  disclaim  all  unity  of  government  as 
of  Divine  institution.  As  to  sanctity,  the  doctrines 
as  to  grace  and  justification  held  by  most  of  these 
sects  seem  little  calculated  to  lead  men  to  lives  of 
holiness ;  but,  nevertheless,  probably  many  of  them 
lead  good  lives  according  to  their  very  imperfect 
lights ;  but  we  do  not  hear  of  any  who  rise  above 
the  common  race  of  men  by  what  is  called  heroic 
sanctity,  and  there  are  few  of  them  who  assert  that 
miracles  occur  in  their  body. 

Certainly  the  sects  in  question  are  not  Catholic, 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  have  proved  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  Catholic.  Some  of  them  claim 
this  honoured  name  to  themselves  to  signify  that 
they  are  all-embracing,  there  being  no  form  of 
religious  belief  that  they  condemn ;  by  as  good  a 
right,  heathen  Rome  might  have  been  called  Catholic, 
for  as  St.  Leo  remarks,  this  city  deemed  itself  very 
religious,  for  there  was  no  error  that  it  was  not 
ready  to  embrace.  (Serm.  82,  2 ;  P.L.  54,  423.)  But 
it  is  merely  silly  to  employ  old  well-known  words 
in  totally  new  senses ;  the  true,  historical  meaning 
of  the  word  is  that  in  which  it  was  employed  by 


376  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  fai 

St.  Augustine  (n.  228),  and  after  him  by  all  writers 
down  to  recent  times.  In  this  sense,  no  one  of  the 
Unprelatic  sects  can  be  considered  Catholic  for 
none  show  any  tendency  to  spread  beyond  the 
country  and  language  in  which  they  had  their 
origin,  nor  is  any  one  of  them  conspicuous  for 
its  numbers.  In  this  matter  we  must  not  be 
deceived  by  words ;  if  we  find  "  Methodists "  or 
"  Baptists  "  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  British 
Empire  and  America,  we  must  remember  that  these 
names  include  many  distinct  sects  differing  in  faith, 
and  often  without  the  common  bond  of  mutual 
sympathy. 

Some  of  the  sects  give  the  name  of  Bishop  to 
certain  of  their  officials,  as  is  done  by  the  Lutherans 
in  Sweden  and  by  the  Methodists  in  America ;  but 
none  of  them  profess  to  trace  the  existence  of  their 
organization  further  back  than  the  sixteenth  century, 
so  that  they  have  no  claim  to  be  called  Apostolic. 
Each  sect  started  fresh  when  its  founders  educed 
a  new  system  of  doctrine  and  discipline  from  the 
Scriptures. 

252.  The  Prelatic. — There  exists  in  England  a 
religious  body  recognized  by  the  law  of  the  country, 
and  enjoying  certain  legal  privileges,  and  the  appli- 
cability of  the  notes  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  this 
body  requires  distinct  consideration.  This  body  is 
distinguished  from  the  Dissenters  in  being  governed 
by  Bishops,  many  of  whom  are,  materially  speaking, 
the  successors  of  Bishops  whose  position  was 
recognized  throughout  the  Christian  world  before 
the  Reformation.  Communions  sprung  from  thla 


252]  THE  PRELATIC.  377 

central  body  exist  in  all  the  countries  where  English 
is  spoken ;  these  are  more  or  less  in  sympathy  one 
with  another,  and  they  agree  in  using  the  same 
formularies,  with  more  or  less  of  modification.  They 
are  Prelatic,  and  have  therefore  a  semblance  of 
possessing  the  notes  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  which 
cannot  be  said  of  their  Unprelatic  rivals. 

But  on  closer  inspection,  this  semblance  dis- 
appears, for  what  at  first  looks  like  one  community, 
turns  out  on  inspection  to  be  a  mere  bundle  of 
discordant  sects,  bound  together  by  a  merely 
external  bond.  It  will  be  enough  to  speak  of  the 
mother  body  found  in  England,  for  no  one  will 
maintain  that  the  notes  of  the  Church  of  Christ  are 
found  in  the  offshoots  if  they  be  lacking  in  the 
common  stem,  the  English  Establishment.  We 
proceed  then  to  consider  how  far  the  notes  appear 
in  this  communion. 

First,  there  is  no  unity  of  faith,  of  worship,  or  of 
government.  All  the  office-bearers  agree  in  having, 
in  words,  accepted  certain  formularies,  as  the 
condition  of  admission  to  their  posts,  but  they 
hold  themselves  at  perfect  liberty  to  explain  these 
formularies  as  they  please;  and  the  language  in 
which  they  are  couched  lends  itself  to  the  greatest 
variety  of  explanation.  There  is  no  living  authority 
within  the  body  that  even  pretends  to  be  able  to 
decide  what  is  the  true  doctrine  on  disputed  points ; 
and  there  is  no  machinery  for  controlling  heretical 
teaching,  except  that  the  State  withdraws  its  recog- 
nition from  such  ministers  of  the  Establishment  as 
are  convicted  in  the  civil  court  of  having  taught 


3?«  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [252 

doctrine  which  contradicts  the  formularies  which 
are  part  of  the  law  of  the  land.  The  principle  of 
unity  of  faith  being  lacking,  it  is  no  marvel  that 
most  diverse  opinions  are  held  and  professed  on 
points  which,  in  the  judgment  of  all,  are  of  funda- 
mental importance.  There  is  unity  of  worship  of 
a  sort,  inasmuch  all  join  in  the  use  of  the  legalized 
forms  of  devotion,  deviating  from  them,  however, 
according  to  each  man's  taste,  so  far  as  the  fear  of 
the  law  of  the  State  will  allow  them.  But  the  unity 
is  of  an  imperfect  sort  when  two  persons  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  side  by  side,  while  one  believes 
that  the  rite  is  a  mere  commemorative  feast,  but 
the  other  believes  that  it  is  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  There  is  no  unity 
of  government,  for  the  Bishops  acknowledge  no 
common  superior,  unless  it  be  the  Sovereign,  to 
whom  each  does  homage  on  his  appointment ;  and 
large  sections  both  of  clergy  and  laity  openly  defy 
the  authority  of  the  Bishops,  in  matters  of  discipline 
no  less  than  in  matters  of  faith,  and  this  without 
eliciting  more  than  mild  expressions  of  regret  from 
the  rest  of  the  body,  who  lament  these  unhappy 
divisions,  but  do  not  see  that  they  indicate  a 
fundamental  defect  in  the  whole  system. 

As  to  sanctity,  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
Establishment  as  was  said  of  the  Dissenters ;  there 
are  men  and  women  within  it  who  have  grace  to 
lead  lives  of  ordinary  goodness,  of  the  type  set  forth 
in  Dean  Burgon's  Lives  of  Twelve  Good  Men.  But 
cases  are  rare,  or  rather  non-existent,  where  the 
religion  of  the  Established  Church  has  produced 


252]  THE  PRELAT1C.  379 

the  fruit  of  virtue  of  the  kind  that  can  be  called 
heroic;  and  we  hear  nothing  of  any  claim  to 
miraculous  power,  which  in  fact  it  is  usual  to 
disclaim,  without  any  reason  being  given  for  this 
falsification  of  the  promise  of  Christ.  The  Church 
of  England  uses  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  so  claims 
the  name  Catholic,  but  there  is  no  agreement  among 
its  members  as  to  the  meaning.  By  some  the  word, 
though  occurring  in  the  legalized  formula,  is  simply 
ignored,  for  they  glory  in  the  name  of  Protestant  as 
opposed  to  Catholic ;  and  it  would  be  dropped  by 
them  could  this  be  done  without  exciting  a  com- 
motion, just  as  many  have  dropped  the  use  of  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  which  is  obligatory  upon  them, 
but  the  doctrine  of  which  they  dislike;  and  many 
drop  distasteful  clauses  of  the  legal  form  of  ad- 
ministering the  Eucharist,  in  spite  of  their  solemn 
promise  to  use  it.  Others  would  say  that  by 
claiming  to  be  Catholics  they  meant  that  they  held 
the  same  doctrine  as  was  held  by  the  Church  of 
Christ  at  some  remote  period,  when  it  seems  to 
them  to  have  been  incorrupt ;  but  as  we  pointed  out 
in  the  last  paragraph,  this  is  not  the  sense  in  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  is  Catholic.  In  that  sense,  the 
Protestants  are  not  Catholic,  for  they  are  confined 
absolutely  to  the  English  race,  and  embrace  no 
more  than  a  fraction  of  this  people.  The  number 
of  adherents  however  is  but  inconsiderable,  even  if 
we  allow  that  all  the  offshoots  from  the  English 
Establishment  are  sufficiently  in  sympathy  with  it 
to  form  one  whole ;  they  amount  to  about  twenty 
millions,  the  other  Protestants  whom  we  have  spoken 


380  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [25? 

of  as  Unprelatic  being  perhaps  four  times  as 
many ;  but  these  estimates  are  very  uncertain. 
But  even  were  it  otherwise  at  the  present  day, 
the  note  of  wide  and  conspicuous  diffusion  would 
still  certainly  be  wanting,  for  the  existing  English 
Church  is  identical  with  that  which  existed  with 
legal  recognition  in  England  three  centuries  ago; 
and  that  communion  was  confined  absolutely  to  the 
dominions  ruled  by  Queen  Elizabeth. 

One  of  the  sections  of  the  Established  Church 
holds  a  peculiar  position  that  must  be  noticed. 
According  to  them  they  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  use  the  term,  and 
they  hold  that  the  Christians  who  are  in  communion 
with  Rome,  and  also  the  Easterns,  are  also  members 
of  the  same  Church :  and  this  position  requires 
them  to  maintain  that  the  Establishment  and  the 
Roman  communion  are  really  one  and  the  same. 
If  this  were  true,  they  would  gain  the  conspicuous 
diffusion  of  which  they  feel  the  lack.  But  the 
asserted  union  between  this  party  and  Rome  dis- 
appears when  judged  by  the  tests  of  union  of 
which  we  spoke  in  our  fifth  chapter.  The  more 
thoroughgoing  members  of  the  party  profess  that 
they  hold  all  the  doctrine  that  Rome  holds :  but 
most  of  them  would  make  an  exception  for  the 
doctrine  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope,  which  is 
certainly  held  by  Rome.  (Cone.  Vat.  Sess.  4,  c.  14 ; 
Denz.  1682.)  And  even  if  they  declare  in  words 
that  they  admit  the  Primacy  of  the  Pope  (Cone. 
Vat.  Constit.  de  Ecc.  2  ;  Denz.  1677),  yet  their  acts 
belie  their  words,  for  they  refuse  to  submit  to 


252]  THE  PRELATIC.  381 

him :  besides  which  they  are  content  to  remain  in 
spiritual  communion  with  men  who  hold  doctrines 
on  the  Sacraments  and  other  matters  which  are 
undoubtedly  heretical.  There  is  no  unity  of  worship 
between  these  men  and  Rome,  for  Rome  would  pay 
no  regard  to  testimonials  given  by  the  Anglican 
Bishops  (see  n.  223),  nor  would  any  Roman  priest 
be  a  party  to  an  Anglican  receiving  the  Blessed 
Eucharist :  and  there  is  no  pretence  to  unity  of 
government,  for  there  is  no  living  governor  to 
whom  both  parties  submit.  This  must  suffice  as  a 
short  account  of  a  subject  on  which  a  large  and 
increasing  literature  exists. 

As  to  Apostolicity,  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  England  believe  that  they  have  this  Note 
because  they  have  a  materially  unbroken  succession 
of  Bishops  from  the  days  when  the  Bishops  of 
England  are  acknowledged  by  all  who  care  for  the 
matter  to  have  been  Apostolical.  But  the  merely 
material  succession  is  not  enough,  for  it  may  be 
that  a  mere  intruder  may  have  been  raised  to  the 
dignity  by  open  force ;  or  it  may  be  that  a  holder 
of  the  office  fell  into  undisguised  heresy,  and  was 
followed  by  a  line  of  successors  of  his  own  sort. 
The  succession  will  not  avail  unless  it  is  formal  and 
legitimate,  as  to  which  we  have  mentioned  two  tests 
(n.  246),  neither  of  which  the  Anglican  succession 
can  abide.  The  Anglican  Bishops  are  not  recog- 
nized as  such  by  the  great  body  whom  all  acknow- 
ledge to  be  true  and  lawful  Bishops :  and  the  mode 
in  which  they  are  appointed  has  undergone  a 
change  from  that  in  use  in  the  days  when  all  agree 


#2  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [252 

that  the  succession  was  lawful.  At  present,  as  of 
old,  the  Bishops  are  confirmed  by  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury :  but  the  Archbishop  acts  without 
any  authority  from  Rome,  whereas  he  formerly 
acted  in  virtue  of  the  authority  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  Pope  who  gave  .him  the  pallium.  In 
proof  of  the  sense  entertained  of  the  necessity  of 
this  investiture,  we  may  cite  the  letter  written 
in  the  year  805  by  the  English  Bishops  to  Pope 
Leo  III.,  in  which  they  recognize  the  duty  of 
personal  application  by  the  new  Archbishop  to  the 
Holy  See,  but  beg  that  he  may  be  allowed  to  act 
by  deputy.  (Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils,  2,  559.) 
This  change  in  the  mode  of  appointment  broke  the 
succession,  especially  as  the  new  line  failed  to  obtain 
recognition  by  those  who  had  recognized  the  old  : 
and  thus  the  Apostolic  origin  was  lost  and  a  new 
start  made ;  and  this  would  have  been  so,  even  if 
the  Episcopal  consecration  had  been  preserved,  and 
even  if  the  new  line  had  not  held  doctrines  on  the 
number  of  the  Sacraments  and  on  the  Sacrifice  of 
the  Mass  which  the  old  line  denounced  as  heretical. 

253.  TJ&  Easterns. — We  cannot  afford  space  to 
say  more  of  the  Easterns  than  that  they  are  plainly 
without  the  Note  of  Catholicity,  for  they  show  no 
tendency  to  spread  beyond  the  countries  where  they 
originated. 

254.  The    Roman    Church.      Unity.  —  We   have 
found  that  the  Christian  communions  which  do  not 
acknowledge  the  supreme  authority  of  Rome  have 
not  got  those  Notes  which,  as  we  have  shown,  must 
be  found  in  the  Church  of  Christ.      It  remains  to 


^54]  THE   ROMAN  CHURCH.      UNITY.  383 

apply  the  same  tests  to  the  Roman  Church,  by 
which  name  we  may  conveniently  (see  n.  258)  desig- 
nate the  collection  of  local  Churches  which  regard 
the  Church  of  the  City  of  Rome  as  their  Mother 
and  Mistress.  (Creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.;  Denz.  867.) 
And  first  of  Unity. 

The  Roman  Church  has  the  principle  of  unity 
in  faith,  for  all  its  members  acknowledge  that  the 
living  voice  of  the  body  of  Bishops,  joined  with 
the  Pope,  speaks  infallibly  on  matters  of  doctrine 
(nn.  205 — 209),  and  that  the  same  is  true  of  the  Pope 
personally  where  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  as  will  be 
explained  in  the  following  Treatise,  (n.  290.)  There 
are  many  points  of  doctrine  on  which  the  Church 
has  not  spoken,  and  which  are  sometimes  debated 
with  no  little  warmth  in  the  theological  schools; 
but  all  parties  to  the  debate  are  prepared  to  submit, 
at  once  and  implicitly,  with  interior  assent,  as  soon 
as  the  voice  of  the  Church  is  heard  ;  and  they 
are  perfectly  consistent  in  doing  so  :  an  authority 
has  come  to  their  knowledge  which  is  decisive  of 
the  dispute.  And  this  function  of  the  Church  is 
in  constant  exercise,  and  is  not  confined  to  the 
comparatively  rare  occasions  when  a  Council  is 
assembled,  or  an  ex-cathedral  Decree  is  issued  :  but 
questions  on  matters  which  come  within  the  scope 
of  the  Infallible  authority  of  the  Church  (n.  209)  are 
constantly  submitted  to  the  tribunals  of  the  Court 
of  Rome ;  and  the  decisions  given,  though  not 
themselves  ex-cathedral,  are  certain  with  infallible 
certainty,  at  least  when  they  are  accepted  by  the 
Church  at  large.  (See  n,  327.) 


384  NOTES  OF   THE  CHURCH.  [254 

Unity  of  worship  is  found  in  the  Roman  Church, 
for  all  recognize  that  the  supreme  act  of  worship  is 
the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  offered  by  a  priest 
who  holds  authority  to  celebrate  from  a  Bishop  in 
communion  with  the  Holy  See,  and  the  names  of 
the  reigning  Pope  and  of  the  Bishop  are  mentioned 
in  the  Canon  of  each  Mass.  (n.  223.)  And  all  the 
Bishops  who  have  this  communion  recognize  the 
testimonial  letters  issued  by  his  brethren  who  have 
the  same  communion.  The  rite  with  which  the 
Mass  is  offered  is  not  everywhere  the  same,  for 
the  Holy  See  sanctions  the  Latin  rite  for  some 
countries,  the  Greek  for  other  districts,  and  so  of 
the  Coptic,  Syriac,  and  Armenian :  but  it  is  recog- 
nized that  these  differences  of  rite  do  not  hinder 
the  essential  oneness  of  the  Sacrifice,  and  all  is 
done  in  dependence  upon  the  one  centre  of  unity. 

Communion  with  this  same  centre  secures  unity 
of  government.  All  the  Bishops  receive  with 
reverence  the  directions  which  from  time  to  time 
reach  them  from  Rome,  and  each  makes  periodical 
visits  to  the  "  threshold  of  the  Apostles  "  at  longer 
or  shorter  intervals  according  to  the  distance :  on 
which  occasions  he  renders  a  full  account  of  the 
state  of  the  diocese  under  his  care,  and  receives 
such  advice  and  directions  as  the  circumstances 
may  require. 

255.  The  Roman  Church.  Sanctity. — The  Sanctity 
of  the  Roman  Church  receives  attestation  even  from 
those  who  do  not  belong  to  her,  as  often  as  they  let 
it  be  known  that  they  look  for  a  higher  standard  of 
virtue  in  the  life  of  a  Catholii:  than  they  look  for 


255]  THE  ROMAN  CHURCH.    SANCTITY.  385 

in  members  of  other  communions ;  illustrations  of 
which  feeling  are  of  almost  daily  occurrence  in  the 
life  of  any  one  who  lives  in  a  mixed  society  of 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  But  the  Holiness  of 
the  Roman  Church  shows  itself  also  in  the  heroic 
sanctity  of  a  great  multitude  of  men  and  women 
within  her  communion.  This  heroic  sanctity  is  by 
no  means  confined  to  those  on  whom  the  solemn 
Decree  of  the  Church  has  conferred  the  title  of 
Saint  or  Blessed :  this  honour  is  not  allowed  to  any 
whose  holiness  cannot  be  proved  to  have  reached 
the  heroic  standard :  but  this  is  not  enough ;  it 
must  be  shown  that  the  Divine  will  in  the  case  has 
been  made  manifest  by  miracles.  As  to  miracles 
we  shall  speak  directly,  and  we  are  not  concerned 
with  visions  and  other  extraordinary  marks  of 
Divine  favour :  for  the  proofs  of  heroic  sanctity 
may  be  studied  without  reference  to  them.  These 
proofs  are  found  in  the  lives  that  are  written  of 
holy  persons,  and  especially  in  those  founded  on 
the  authentic  processes  instituted  when  a  petition 
is  presented  for  the  beatification  of  any  Servant  of 
God:  the  story  will  be  found  to  show  how  under  every 
conceivable  variety  of  circumstances  all  the  virtues 
suitable  to  the  person's  state  were  practised  with  a 
perfection  far  above  what  is  usual  even  among  good 
men ;  and  however  strange  some  of  the  recorded 
actions  may  seem  to  some  readers,  yet  it  will  be 
seen  that  these  are  nothing  but  what  look  like 
excesses  in  what  is  good;  and  their  character  will 
be  best  judged  by  those  whose  own  lives  approach 
most  nearly  to  the  heroic  standard. 

Z  VOL.  I. 


386  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [255 

The  processes  in  causes  of  canonization  all 
contain  full  proof  that  miracles  continue  to  be  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  the  Church-.  On  a  question 
of  fact  of  this  kind,  we  must  refer  to  what  we  said 
on  the  general  subject  of  Miracle  in  the  First 
Treatise  (nn.  21— -34):  testimony  proves  the  exist- 
ence of  certain  fac.ts,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  nature  proves  that  the  co-existence  of  these  facts 
admits  of  no  natural  explanation.  The  value  of  the 
testimony  must  be  judged  in  each  case ;  but  it  is  to 
be  remarked  that  this  is  a  matter  on  which  no  man 
is  a  fair  judge  who  does  not  frankly  and  fully  in  his 
own  mind  admit  that  God  can,  when  He  sees  fit, 
deviate  from  the  rules  by  which  it  is  His  pleasure 
ordinarily  to  govern  the  universe ;  and  further, 
that  God  did  please  to  do  so  on  certain  occasions 
recorded  in  the  Gospels.  One  who  does  not  admit 
this  has  no  concern  with  any  question  regarding 
the  Notes  of  the  Church,  for  the  whole  of  the 
present  controversy  is  based  on  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  which  he  declines  to  admit.  We  con- 
ceive that  thf:  testimony  in  favour  of  certain  miracles 
will  be  foun  1  absolutely  conclusive  by  any  one  who 
approaches  the  subject  with  an  open  mind,  using 
the  great  work  of  Benedict  XIV.,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred,  (n.  231,  and  see  n.  38.) 

256.  The  Roman  Church.  Catholicity. — That  the 
Roman  Church  is  Catholic  will  scarcely  be  ques- 
tioned. In  its  constitution  there  is  nothing  to  con- 
fine it  to  certain  languages  or  regions  of  the  earth, 
and  in  point  of  fact  it  has  penetrated  everywhere : 
in  every  case  where  the  circumstances  of  the  con- 


256]          THE  ROMAN  CHURCH.     CATHOLICITY.  387 

version  of  a  nation  to  Christianity  is  known  from 
history,  it  will  be  found  that  the  work  was  effected 
by  missionaries  working  under  the  authority  of 
Rome  ;  and  although  there  are  some  obscure 
instances  on  which  history  throws  little  light,  yet 
in  no  single  case  can  it  be  proved  that  the  work 
was  done  independently  of  Roman  mission.  The 
Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  show  how 
at  the  present  day  Roman  missionaries  are  doing 
their  work  with  zeal  and  success,  and  not  seldom 
receive  martyrdom  as  their  reward  ;  while  the 
scanty  result  of  the  vast  resources  squandered  on 
Protestant  Missions  is  recognized  by  all  who  attend 
to  the  subject :  lapse  of  time  having  done  nothing 
to  modify  the  effect  of  the .  overwhelming  mass  of 
evidence  collected  by  Mr.  Marshall  in  his  book  on 
Christian  Missions.  All  authorities  agree  in  esti- 
mating the  members  of  the  Roman  Church  as 
being  at  least  as  numerous  as  all  other  Christians 
put  together :  it  follows  that  they  many  times 
outnumber  the  adherents  of  any  single  sect,  and 
form  far  the  most  conspicuous  body  of  Christians. 

257.  The    Roman  Church.      Apostolicity. — What 
was  said  when  we  spoke  of  unity  of  worship  (n.  254) 
sufficiently  proves  that  the  members  of  the  hier- 
archy of  the   Roman   Church   in   each  generation 
receive   their    authority   from   the   generation  that 
went  before,  and  in  this  way  the  Apostolic  character 
of  the  Church  is  assured. 

258.  Objections. — Various   objections   are   raised 
against  our  doctrine  on  the  Notes  of  the  Church, 
and  they  will  be  found  collected  in  large  number  by 


388  NOTES  OF  THE  CHURCH.  [258 

Perrone  (Prcelectiones ;  Tr.  de  Loci's,  c.  3),  but  the 
replies  to  the  great  bulk  of  them  have  been  antici- 
pated in  what  we  have  said.  It  is  unfortunately 
true  that  there  is  much  corruption  of  morals  among 
members  of  the  Church,  especially  in  those  countries 
where  she  has  been  robbed  and  deprived  of  liberty 
by  the  action  of  the  civil  power :  and  this  corrup- 
tion may  in  some  cases  have  been  found  among  the 
holders  of  high  office  in  the  Church:  but  all  this 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  what  we  have  urged, 
that  many  members  of  the  Church  are  in  the  grace 
of  God,  and  that  some  lead  lives  of  heroic  sanctity. 
It  is  possible  that  some  persons  have  been  popu- 
larly reputed  to  be  saints  who  have  no  right  to  the 
title,  and  that  some  events  have  been  esteemed 
miraculous  on  insufficient  grounds :  but  this  does 
not  prevent  there  being  true  saints  and  indubitable 
miracles.  It  is  said  that  unity  of  faith  in  the 
Roman  Church  is  secured  by  the  use  of  force,  and 
it  is  true  that  in  Spain,  the  action  of  the  civil  power 
in  suppressing  heresy  saved  the  country  from  the 
horrors  of  those  religious  wars  which  desolated  so 
large  a  part  of  Europe ;  but  there  is  no  pretence 
for  saying  that  the  agreement  of  so  vast  a  mass  of 
men  is  a  fruit  of  violence. 

The  last  objection  that  we  shall  notice  is  a 
quibble  on  names:  it  is  said  that  the  Roman  Church 
is  the  Church  of  a  single  city,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  Catholic  or  universal.  We  acknowledge  that  the 
terms  "  Roman  Church "  or  "  Roman  Catholic 
Church  "  may  be  misunderstood,  if  their  origin  is 
not  borne  in  mind.  In  truth  the  Church  of  Christ 


258]  OBJECTIONS.  389 

is  one  and  unique  (n.  215) ;  it  is  therefore  sufficiently 
denoted  by  the  one  word,  the  Church,  with  no 
epithet  added,  just  as  we  speak  of  the  sun,  for  there 
is  one  sun  only  in  the  heavens :  but  men  are  found 
to  claim  the  name  of  Church  for  other  communities, 
and  therefore,  to  prevent  misunderstanding,  it 
became  usual  to  adopt  epithets  which  serve  to 
distinguish  the  true  Church  from  her  rivals,  and 
the  word  Catholic,  originally  employed  by  way  of 
protest  against  the  Donatists  (n.  238)  was  found  to 
be  suitable  for  the  purpose.  It  might  still  serve, 
were  it  not  that  it  has  been  perverted  from  its 
original  sense  (n.  251),  which  however  it  still  retains 
in  the  mouth  of  all  who  have  not  a  cause  to  serve, 
just  as  was  the  case  in  the  days  of  St.  Augustine 
(Contr.JEpist.  Manich.  i,  4  [5]  ;  P.L.  42, 175) ;  so,  for 
the  last  three  hundred  years,  the  epithet  Roman  has 
often  been  employed,  and  it  still  serves  its  purpose, 
for  the  members  of  the  one  true  Church  alone  are 
in  communion  with  Rome.  It  is  in  this  communion 
with  the  common  centre  that  the  various  local 
Churches  find  their  unity  in  its  perfection.  The 
phrase  "the  Roman  Church"  or  "the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,"  is  therefore  unobjectionable,  if 
it  be  understood  as  merely  marking  a  character  of 
the  one  true  Church ;  but  if  it  be  taken  to  mean 
that  one  true  Church  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
another,  it  is  to  be  rejected  as  involving  a  grievous 
error. 

259.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
explained  the  importance  of  knowing  which  among 
the  various  Christian  communities  is  the  true  Church 


390  RECAPITULATION.  t*59 

of  Christ,  for  without  this  knowledge  no  one  can 
perform  the  duty  that  is  on  him  of  joining  this 
Church,  nor  gain  the  spiritual  blessings  which 
attend  the  performance  of  that  duty.  We  then 
observe  that  the  properties  which  we  have  seen  to 
belong  to  the  Church  furnish  us  with  the  means  of 
recognition  that  we  need ;  and  then  we  find  that 
these  properties  of  being  One,  Holy,  Catholic,  and 
Apostolic  do  not  exist  in  any  Christian  community 
except  that  which  acknowledges  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  while  in  this  com- 
munity they  are  found  to  the  full.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  the  communion  of  which  the  Pope  is 
the  Head  is  the  true  Church  of  Christ  which  has  a 
Divine  claim  to  the  submission  of  all  men,  and  has 
Divine  authority  to  guarantee  great  spiritual  help  to 
all  that  submit  to  her.  And  thus  we  close  our 
Treatise  on  the  Church. 


tTrcatise  tbe  fifth. 
THE  ROMAN  PONTIFF. 

CHAPTER  I. 

POSITION   OF  THE   POPE   IN   THE   CHURCH. 

260.  Plan  of  Treatise. — In  this  Treatise  we  shall 

'•eal  with  the  position  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  the 

7icar  of  Christ  and  Head  of  the  Church  on  earth. 

The  Treatise   is  partly  theological,  so   far  as  we 

found  an  argument  on  Scripture,  but  it  is  chiefly 

descriptive  and  historical,  especially  when  the  chief 

objections  are  dealt  with,  which  the  adversaries  of 

the  Catholic  doctrine  draw  from  history. 

In  the  first  chapter  we  shall  describe  the  actual 
position  held  by  the  Pope  in  the  Church  at  the 
present  time,  which  has  been  held,  without  material 
change,  at  least  for  many  centuries;  and  this  will 
furnish  a  basis  for  an  argument  from  prescription. 
We  shall  next  consider  the  teaching  of  Holy 
Scripture  and  history  concerning  St.  Peter,  the 
first  in  the  line  of.  Popes,  and  then  the  Primacy  of 
the  Pope  and  his  Infallibility  will  be  dealt  with  in 
two  chapters.  The  relation  of  the  Pope  to  the  body 
of  Bishops  will  be  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter, 


39«        POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.    (260 

with  especial  reference  to  the  Bishops  when 
assembled  in  a  General  Council.  The  Treatise 
will  be  closed  by  the  justification  of  the  authori- 
tative teaching  on  the  subject  of  the  Temporal 
Power. 

261.  Subject  of  Chapter. — That  the  Bishop  of  the 
city  of  Rome  holds  a  position  in  the  Church  of  the 
present  day  essentially  different  from  that  held  by 
any  other  Bishop  is  clear.     In  the  present  chapter 
we  propose  to  explain  in  what  this  difference  con- 
sists, and  to  show  in  outline  what  is  the  machinery 
by  which  his  power  is  exercised. 

262.  Who  is  the  Pope  f — The  prerogatives  of  the 
Pope,  by  Divine  right,  attach  to  the  person  who 
from  time  to  time  is  Bishop  of  the  See  of  Rome. 
The  name  of  Pope,  which  was  formerly  common  to 
all  the  clergy,  as  is  still  the  case  in  the  East,  has 
since  the    beginning    of   the   sixth   century,   been 
appropriated  in  the  West  to  the  Roman   Pontiff; 
the    example   having  apparently   been   set   by   St. 
Ennodius,  Bishop  of  Pavia,  who  addresses  a  letter 
simply  to  "  Pope  Symmachus."  (Epist.  4,  I ;  P.L. 
63,  69.)    As  often  as  a  vacancy  occurs,  whether  by 
resignation  or  by  death,  it  is  filled  by  election.     In 
ancient  times  all  Bishops  were  chosen  by  election, 
the  electors  being  the  principal  clergy  of  the  city ; 
and  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  See  this  discipline 
still  prevails.      Formerly,  the  lay  people  of  Rome 
and  the  Emperors  claimed  to  have  some  undefined 
share    in   the   elections;    the   toleration  of    which 
claims  may  be  explained  by  the  consideration  that 
it  would  usually  be  inexpedient  for  a  person  to  be 


z62]  WHO  IS  THE  POPE?  393 

elected  who  was  not  acceptable  to  those  whom  it 
would  be  his  duty  to  govern  in  temporals:  but  in 
1179,  Pope  Alexander  III.  put  the  matter  on  its 
present  footing,  and  since  that  date  the  right  haa 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  College  of  Cardinals, 
who  are  the  Bishops  of  six  sees  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rome,  with  the  parish  priests  of  the  City 
itself,  and  certain  deacons  attached  to  the  churches. 
There  is  no  completed  election  until  the  voices  of 
two-thirds  of  the  Cardinals  present  are  given  for  the 
same  person.  The  jurisdiction  vests  immediately 
on  the  completion  of  the  election,  for  the  Pope  has 
no  superior  to  confirm  him  in  his  office,  as  the  Canon 
Law  requires  in  the  case  of  other  elections.  The 
choice  of  the  Cardinals  is  absolutely  unfettered,  and 
it  is  only  in  their  discretion  that  since  the  election 
of  the  Fleming,  Adrian  VI.,  in  1522,  this  choice  has 
always  fallen  upon  an  Italian ;  and  it  is  also  in  their 
discretion  that  they  have  commonly  respected  the 
practice  called  Exclusiva  or  Veto.  According  to 
this,  the  Sovereigns  of  Austria,  France,  and  Spain, 
have  been  for  some  three  centuries  in  the  habit  of 
nominating  Cardinals  to  be  their  spokesmen,  with 
the  duty  of  signifying  to  the  Conclave  that  the  choice 
of  some  one  particular  person,  who  seemed  likely  to 
gain  the  required  number  of  votes,  would  be  unac- 
ceptable :  and  a  claim  of  the  same  sort  was  some- 
times put  forward  by  other  powerful  states,  as  Naples 
and  Venice.  But  although  it  was  generally  felt  to 
be  wise  to  respect  the  wishes  of  one  who  perhaps 
had  deserved  well  of  the  Church,  and  who  at  any 
rate  had  it  in  his  power  to  do  much  mischief,  yet  no 


394       POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.     [261 

strict  right  of  Veto  was  ever  recognized,  and  in  fact 
Paul  IV.,  in  1555,  and  Alexander  VII.,  in  1655,  were 
chosen  in  spite  of  the  Veto  of  France. 

The  whole  ceremonial  of  the  election  is  most 
strictly  regulated,  one  object  of  the  rules  being  to 
secure  the  electors  from  all  undue  influence.  We 
need  not  go  into  the  details,  which  are  to  be  found 
in  many  books ;  but  it  is  to  our  purpose  to  observe 
that  the  whole  matter  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Church  ; 
and  whenever  the  Church  at  large  recognizes  any 
man  whatever  as  being  Pope,  that  man  is  Pope, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  circumstances  that 
led  to  his  being  recognized.  (See  n.  211.)  If  it  were 
true  that,  in  855,  the  choice  of  the  electors  fell  upon 
one  who  though  supposed  to  be  a  man  was  really  a 
woman,  this  election  would  have  been  void,  for 
women  are  incapable  of  jurisdiction  in  the  Church; 
and  so  the  Holy  See  would  have  continued  vacant. 
If  any  one  urge  that  a  mistake  of  this  sort  might 
redound  to  the  destruction  of  the  Church,  the 
answer  is  that  the  promise  of  Christ  to  be  with  His 
Church  gives  us  assurance  that  the  event  will  not 
occur.  (See  n.  192,  viii.)  But  the  story  about  Pope 
Joan  is  rejected  by  all  historians :  it  may  be  enough 
to  quote  Gibbon  (Decline  and  Fall,  chapter  49),  and 
Mosheim.  (2,  196,  and  719.)  If  the  person  elected 
have  not  already  received  episcopal  consecration,  it 
is  his  duty  to  seek  it. 

The  Pope  being  supreme  can  resign  his  office 
when  he  pleased,  as  was  done  by  Benedict  IX.  in 
1045,  and  by  St.  Peter  Celestine  in  1294;  a  bishop 
or  parish  priest,  on  the  other  hand,  must  obtain 


262]  WHO  IS  THE  POPE?  395 

leave  of  his  superior  before  he  can  be  quit  of  his 
charge.  In  the  chapter  of  this  Treatise  on  General 
Councils  we  shall  show  that  no  human  power  can 
depose  a  Pope  who  is  once  duly  constituted  in  his 
office;  and  acceptance  by  the  Church  is  a  proof 
that  such  or  such  a  person  is  lawful  Pope. 

263.  Papal   functions    classified. — The    Pope    is 
Sovereign  of  the  States  of  the  Church,  a  function 
which    is    at   present   in   abeyance,   owing  to   the 
usurpation  of  a  neighbouring  Government.     Before 
this   usurpation,  the   form  of  government  was  an 
absolute  monarchy,  with  an  elective  monarch,  but 
the  altogether  exceptional  circumstances  hindered 
the  existence  of  those  evils  which  commonly  attend 
that  arrangement.    The  Canon  Law  was  the  basis  of 
the  law  administered  by  the  courts ;  and  the  people 
were  happy  under  a  mild  and  just  administration, 
with    light   taxation    and   no   compulsory   military 
service,  but  were  too  ready  to  listen  to  the  delusive 
promises  made  to  them  by  the  agents  of  envious 
neighbours.  (See  Maguire,  Pontificate  of  Pius  IX.) 
We  shall  describe  the  other  functions  which  are  now 
actually  exercised  by  the  Pope,  dealing  in  successive 
paragraphs    with    his    action    as   teacher    and    as 
governor,  making  special  mention  of  what  he  does 
in  relation  to  the  Bishops  of  the  Church,  and  to 
worship. 

264.  Action  of  Pope  as  Teacher. — In  his  capacity 
of    teacher   of    the   Church,   the    Pope   sometimes 
solemnly  defines  that  some  doctrine  is  to  be  held  as 
part  of  the  Catholic  faith,  the  denial  of  which  from 
that  time   forward   is   heresy:   this  was   done,  for 


396        POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.    [264 

example,  by  Pope  Pius  IX.,  when  in  1854,  he 
defined  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
(Denz.  1502),  acting  after  consultation  with  the 
Bishops  of  the  world,  but  without  having  gathered 
them  into  a  Council :  and  again  in  1870,  the  same 
Pope,  in  the  Vatican  Council,  issued  the  definition 
of  his  own  Infallibility  (Denz.  1682)  and  other 
matters.  The  Pope  also  speaks  with  infallible 
certainty  on  other  matters  which  come  within  the 
scope  of  the  teaching  authority  of  the  Church 
(n.  209),  for  as  we  shall  see  when  we  treat  of  the 
matter,  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Church,  (n.  290.)  The  Pope  can  exercise 
this  infallibility  by  documents,  having  any  form  he 
pleases,  so  long  as  he  makes  his  intention  clear: 
but  besides  these  ex-cathedral  utterances  he  often 
teaches  his  flock  in  a  less  authoritative  manner, 
setting  forth  the  doctrine  which  is  ordinarily  held 
upon  some  point,  and  basing  some  practical  in- 
struction upon  the  statement,  but  without  any 
intention  of  defining  any  doubtful  point.  The 
same  teaching  office  is  exercised  when  propositions 
touching  faith  or  morals  are  condemned,  and 
forbidden  with  or  without  some  note  of  censure : 
as  also  by  the  practice  of  condemning  books  which 
contain  false  doctrine :  in  rare  cases  books  are  pro- 
hibited as  a  disciplinary  measure  because  they 
contain  matter  which,  though  not  actually  false, 
it  is  nevertheless  inexpedient  to  publish. 

265.  Papal  Legislation. — The  Pope  as  supreme 
governor  of  the  Church  exercises  the  right  of  legis- 
lation, laying  down  disciplinary  laws  which  bind  the 


265]  PAPAL  LEGISLATION.  397 

conscience  of  the  faithful  so  far  as  the  legislator 
pleases ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  this  prerogative  he 
is  not  bound  to  the  observance  of  any  forms.  The 
nature  of  a  law  requires  that  it  should  be  promul- 
gated in  some  way,  that  is  to  say,  the  legislator 
must  not  keep  his  will  locked  in  his  own  bosom, 
but  must  take  some  external  step  to  make  his  will 
known.  (See  Bucceroni,  Theologia  Moralis :  Quid 
sit  lex.)  The  ordinary  course  is  that  the  law  is 
published  in  Rome,  by  the  agency  of  certain  officials 
called  cursores  or  messengers,  and  knowledge  of 
this  publication  is  conveyed  to  each  Bishop  by  his 
agent  instructed  for  the  purpose,  and  by  the  Bishop 
communicated  to  the  faithful  under  his  charge.  It 
is  understood  to  be  the  standing  will  of  the  Pontiff 
not  to  bind  the  people  by  disciplinary  laws  until 
they  have  been  made  known  by  the  Bishop ;  and 
the  Bishop  has  the  right  and  duty  of  withholding 
the  announcement  if  he  sees  that  circumstances 
affecting  his  diocese  make  the  law  locally  inex- 
pedient, though  generally  useful :  he  will  communi- 
cate with  Rome  upon  the  matter,  and  await  the 
decision  of  the  Pontiff.  (See  Bouix,  De  Principiis 
Juris  Canonici,  P.  2,  §  2,  c.  5.) 

There  are  certain  points  of  discipline  which, 
according  to  the  common  opinion,  are  of  Divine 
and  not  of  human  institution:  such  is  probably 
the  religious  observance  of  the  weekly  memory 
of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ ;  perhaps  also  the 
spring  fast.  The  Pope,  therefore,  could  not  wholly 
abrogate  these  institutions,  though  he  can  modify 
the  observance  of  them  as  he  sees  fit ;  and  his 


398        POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.    [265 

legislative  power  is  subject  to  no  other  restriction ; 
every  merely  human  law,  though  it  may  be  ancient 
in  the  Church,  and  even  of  Apostolic  origin,  may  be 
swept  away  by  him  who  at  the  present  day  wields 
an  authority  equal  if  not  superior  to  that  of  the 
Apostle  or  other  man  by  whom  the  law  was  enacted. 
Of  course  we  are  here  speaking  of  the  abstract 
authority,  without  reference  to  the  likelihood  of  its 
being  exercised :  and  in  the  same  way,  there  is  no 
limit  to  the  Papal  prerogative  of  imposing  new 
legislation,  binding  the  members  of  the  Church  in 
all  matters  which  are  not  against  God's  law. 

The  power  of  legislation  involves  the  right  of 
punishing  violations  of  the  law  by  excommunica- 
tion or  other  spiritual  censures ;  as  also  by  imprison- 
ment and  other  forms  of  what  in  civil  law  are  called 
secondary  punishments :  the  ecclesiastical  authority 
never  condemns  to  death,  or  to  punishments  which 
involve  the  shedding  of  blood. 

Cases  will  occur  from  time  to  time  where  grave 
inconvenience  would  arise  from  the  enforcement  of 
a  law,  which  apart  from  exceptional  circumstances 
is  generally  beneficial.  It  belongs  to  the  legislator 
to  judge  concerning  these  cases,  and  if  necessary 
to  grant  a  dispensation  from  the  law.  Of  course 
this  can  be  done  only  in  matters  of  human  law. 
The  practice  of  dispensing  is  often  misrepresented, 
as  if  the  Pope  claimed  power  to  make  that  right 
which  was  truly  wrong :  the  reply  is  that  dispensa- 
tions are  not  granted  except  for  things  which  would 
not  be  wrong  were  they  not  forbidden  by  the  legis- 
lator: the  dispensation  removes  the  prohibition  and 


265]  PAPAL  LEGISLATION.  399 

the  thing  is  no  longer  wrong.  There  is  probably  no 
system  of  law  in  which  dispensations  are  not  in 
use:  thus,  in  England,  the  Crown,  acting  under 
the  authority  of  the  Legislature,  frequently  grants 
licenses  in  mortmain,  that  is  to  say,  dispenses  a 
corporation  in  a  particular  case  from  the  law  which 
forbids  it  to  hold  land ;  a  conveyance  of  land  to  a 
corporation  is  illegal,  and  involves  forfeiture,  unless 
a  license  has  been  obtained :  if  there  be  a  license, 
the  conveyance  is  no  longer  illegal.  . 

Somewhat  akin  to  dispensations  are  the  graces 
granted  occasionally  by  the  Holy  See,  as  when 
permission  was  given  to  the  Kings  of  Hungary 
to  have  the  ecclesiastical  ornament,  the  Cross, 
carried  before  them,  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
good  service  against  the  infidel  done  by  them  on 
the  frontiers  of  Christendom.  In  the  same  way, 
grants  are  frequently  made  of  the  favour  of  having 
Mass  in  a  private  house,  and  the  like. 

266.  The  Pope  and  the  Bishops. — Although  the 
system  of  government  of  the  Church  by  Bishops 
is  Divine  and  unalterable  (nn.  196,  201),  yet  the 
details  may  be  altered  by  the  Supreme  Pastor.  Thus, 
he  can  suppress  ancient  dioceses  and  erect  new  ones, 
as  was  done  by  Pope  Pius  VII.  in  France  in  1801, 
and  by  Pope  Pius  IX.  in  England  in  1850.  It 
belongs  to  him  to  modify,  from  time  to  time,  the 
mode  of  appointment  of  Bishops,  making  such 
arrangements  in  each  locality  as  are  suited  to  its 
peculiar  needs :  and  he  determines  which  Bishops 
shall  receive  the  pallium  with  the  dignity  and 
jurisdiction  of  a  metropolitan  or  patriarch.  He 


400       POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.     [266 

has  the  right,  which  he  does  not  now  exercise, 
to  require  Bishops  to  provide  his  nominees  with 
benefices,  and  this  practice  has  had  great  efficacy 
in  times  past  in  fostering  the  Catholic  spirit,  and 
hindering  the  Church  from  degenerating  into  a 
bundle  of  national  institutions.  If  a  Catholic 
historian  see  reason  to  think  that  at  some  particular 
period  the  right  of  provisions  was  grievously  abused, 
he  is  quite  at  liberty  to  say  so,  for  it  would  be  a 
violation  of  his  duty  to  try  to  make  a  pretence  that 
there  have  never  been  abuses  within  the  Papal 
Court:  and  few  will  deny  that  there  was  much 
abuse  during  the  dreary  seventy  years  while  the 
Popes  resided  at  Avignon.  (1307 — 1377.  See  Pastor, 
History  of  the  Popes.  Eng.  Trans.  I,  72.)  All 
ecclesiastical  property  is  held  subject  to  the  direc- 
tions of  the  Pope,  and  it  cannot  be  licitly  or  validly 
alienated  without  his  sanction ;  the  violation  of 
which  principle  has  led  to  countless  scandals.  The 
rule  already  mentioned  (n.  254)  by  which  all  Bishops 
are  bound  to  render  periodical  accounts  of  the  state 
of  their  dioceses  goes  far  to  prevent  abuses  in  this 
matter.  The  Pope  also  receives  appeals  from  all 
local  tribunals  in  the  Church,  and  passes  final 
judgment  upon  all  causes. 

We  may  also  mention  here  the  power  of  the 
Pope  to  approve  of  new  Religious  Orders,  or  to 
regulate  and  even  suppress  those  already  in 
existence.  Besides  having  jurisdiction  over  all 
the  faithful,  the  Pope  is  in  a  special  manner  the 
supreme  prelate  of  every  Religious  Order,  the 
members  of  which  are  subject  to  him  in  virtue  of 


266]  THE  POPE  AND  THE  BISHOPS.  401 

their  profession.  He  exercises  his  power  in  his 
discretion,  with  regard  to  time  and  place  :  a  notable 
instance  being  the  action  of  Pope  Pius  VII.  towards 
the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1814,  compared  with  ^the 
action  of  Pope  Clement  XIV.  in  1773,  towards  the 
same  Society. 

267.  Liturgy. — The    Pope    approves    or    dis- 
approves devotions  proposed  for  private  use,  and 
regulates  with  great  care  the  public  worship  of  the 
Church.     This  worship  is  not  absolutely  the  same 
everywhere,  for  while  the   substance   of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  remains  unchanged  and  unchangeable,  the 
language  and  the  rite  employed  vary  with  time  and 
place.     The  variety  in  Breviaries  and  Pontificals  is 
even  greater  than  in  Missals,  and  the  Calendar  is 
modified  to  suit  each  diocese  and  religious  family. 
Connected  with  this  matter  is  the  reservation  to  the 
Pope  of  all  causes  of  beatification  and  canonization, 
effected  finally  by  Pope  Urban  VIII.  in  1634,  since 
which  time  an  early  step  in  each  cause  has  been  to 
prove  that  no  unauthorized  public  cultus  has  been 
offered  to  the  servant  of  God  whose  cause  is  pro- 
posed.    Failure  to  prove  that  the  law  of  Urban  has 
been  observed  is  fatal  to  the  cause. 

268.  Mode  of  Exercise. — It  is  evident  that  the 
burden   of  attending  to   all  this   business   for   the 
whole  Church  would  be  far  beyond  the  powers  of 
any  one   man,  and   the  Divine   institution   of  the 
episcopacy  distributes  a  great  part  of  the   labour 
among  the  thousand  or  more  Bishops  who  enjoy 
the  communion   of  the   Apostolic   See.      Each   of 
these  has,  within  his  own  diocese,  certain  ordinary 

AA  VOL.  I. 


402        POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN   THE  CHURCH.     [268 

jurisdiction,  that  is  to  say,  a  certain  authority  which 
comes  to  him  from  the  general  law  in  virtue  of  the 
mere  fact  of  his  appointment  to  his  office,  and 
which  he  exercises  in  his  own  right  and  in  his 
own  name.  Moreover,  the  Bishops  have  commonly 
certain  extraordinary  jurisdiction  conferred  on  them, 
not  by  the  general  law,  but  by  the  act  of  the  Pope, 
and  in  exercising  this  they  mention  the  source 
from  which  they  derive  it.  Thus,  not  only  have 
the  Bishops  a  jurisdiction  of  their  own,  but  also  a 
part  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  is 
exercised  through  their  medium ;  while  at  the  same 
time,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pontiff  is  also  ordinary 
and  immediate  over  the  whole  Church,  and  every 
one  of  her  members :  so  that  the  inferior  clergy 
and  the  laity  are  subject  to  the  ordinary  jurisdiction 
both  of  the  Pope  and  of  the  Bishop.  It  follows 
that  the  Pope  has  and  exercises  the  right,  in  his 
discretion,  to  deal  in  the  first  instance,  even  with 
matters  which  are  within  the  competence  of  the 
Bishop,  and  which  commonly  would  not  be  brought 
before  the  Holy  See,  unless  by  way  of  appeal. 
What  is  here  said  about  jurisdiction  belongs  alike 
to  the  internal  forum  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance, 
and  to  the  external  forum,  or  courts  where  the 
judge  is  merely  man,  and  not  acting  directly  in  the 
place  of  God. 

The  Pope  sometimes  calls  in  the  aid  of  the 
Bishops  to  assist  him  in  that  part  of  his  work  which 
is  not  laid  upon  them,  as  when  he  calls  a  General 
Council,  or  consults  them  by  letter  on  doubtful 

9 

points.      But  his  principal  reliance  is  on  the  body 


268]  MODE  OF  EXERCISE.  403 

of  Cardinals,  all  of  whom,  unless  they  are  Bishops 
in  charge  of  dioceses,  are  bound  to  reside  in  Rome 
and  attend  the  person  of  His  Holiness.  In  pursuance 
of  an  arrangement  introduced  by  Pope  Sixtus  V. 
(1585 — 1590),  the  Cardinals  are  distributed  into  a 
number  of  Congregations,  to  each  of  which  are 
attached  consultors  and  other  officials,  chosen  from 
among  the  most  learned  and  capable  men  that  the 
Church  affords.  A  distinct  class  of  business  is 
assigned  to  each  Congregation :  thus  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Holy  Office,  or  the  Roman 
Inquisition,  deals  with  questions  that  directly 
concern  the  faith :  the  Congregation  of  the  Council 
decides  cases  that  arise  out  of  the  disciplinary 
decrees  of  Trent :  the  Congregations  of  the  Bishops 
and  Regulars  and  of  the  Propaganda  have  a  care 
for  the  general  business  of  the  Catholic  world,  the 
one  taking  the  older  countries,  while  countries 
which  have  a  recently  established  body  of  Bishops, 
or  none  at  all,  fall  to  the  other.  The  names  of  the 
Congregation  of  Rites  and  of  Indulgences  tell  theii 
own  story,  and  there  are  others  of  less  importance. 
Occasionally  new  Congregations  of  a  temporary 
character  are  instituted  to  dispose  of  business  which 
is  not  of  an  ordinary  description. 

When  contentious  business  comes  before  any  of 
the  Congregations,  lawyers  are  employed  at  the 
discretion  of  the  parties.  The  pleadings  are  in 
writing.  In  cases  where  some  exemption  from 
the  ordinary  law  is  sought,  a  lawyer  is  appointed 
to  argue  against  the  applicant :  this  is  the  position 
of  the  well-known  Devil's  Advocate  in  causes  of 


404       POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.     [268 

Canonization,  and  of  the  Defender  of  the  Marriage, 
when  a  declaration  is  sought  that  some  ceremony 
which  had  the  semblance  of  being  a  marriage  is 
really  null. 

The  prerogative  of  Infallibility  is  personal  to 
the  Pope,  and  cannot  be  deputed  by  him  to.  a 
Congregation,  or  any  other  person.  Nevertheless, 
declarations  of  the  Congregations  touching  matters 
of  faith,  command  the  greatest  respect,  and  their 
disciplinary  decrees  may  be  such  as  to  be  binding 
on  the  consciences  of  all  the  faithful :  the  legislative 
power  of  the  Pope  being  in  a  large  measure 
exercised  through  them.  The  Congregation  of 
Rites  especially  has  this  power. 

269.  Prescription. — In  the  foregoing  sections 
(nn.  262 — 268)  we  have  described  the  action  of 
the  Pope  in  the  Church  at  the  present  day.  Except 
in  a  few  instances,  no  proofs  have  been  adduced, 
for  they  are  needless :  the  matter  is  notorious : 
illustrations  will  be  found  in  the  Ada  Sanctce  Sedis, 
which  periodical  contains  select  reports  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Holy  See,  taken  from  the  official 
documents.  It  follows  that  the  Church  is  at  the 
present  day  governed  as  an  absolute  monarchy,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  being  the  monarch  ;  and  assuredly 
there  is  no  government  in  the  world  where  such 
speedy  and  effectual  justice  is  dealt  out  by  the 
Sovereign  to  the  humblest  of  his  subjects  who  lay 
complaints  before  him.  This  may  seem  a  strange 
saying,  considering  how  much  we  hear  about  Rome's 
delays;  but  we  believe  that,  making  due  allowance 
for  the  imperfections  of  every  system  that  is  worked 


269]  PRESCRIPTION.  405 

by  men,  Rome  does  not  delay  except  where  there 
is  good  reason  for  delay,  and  that  in  urgent  cases 
her  action  is  found  to  be  prompt  and  decisive.  But 
it  does  not  belong  to  the  present  work  to  go  into  this 
matter. 

Moreover,  the  system  that  is  now  in  action  is 
no  modern  growth :  it  has  lasted,  without  substantial 
change,  for  centuries.  It  is  true  that  the  tightness 
of  the  bonds  of  discipline  has  varied  in  different 
ages  of  the  Church,  and  that  the  Popes  formerly 
left  to  the  care  of  the  Bishops  certain  matters 
which  now,  in  view  of  increased  facilities  of 
communication,  they  see  fit  to  reserve  to  them- 
selves ;  but  the  Papal  right  even  in  these  matters, 
was  preserved  and  manifested  by  the  practice  of 
appeals  and  -by  occasional  direct  action.  Also  in 
certain  parts  of  the  Church,  especially  in  France, 
the  free  exercise  of  the  right  of  the  Pope  to  govern 
was  obstructed  by  the  civil  power,  aided  by  some 
subservient  theologians,  who  maintained  that  no 
act  of  the  Pope  was  valid  within  the  country  unless 
it  were  accepted  by  the  Government.  These 
Gallican  liberties  as  they  were  called  really  meant 
that  the  Church  was  to  be  the  slave  of  the  State, 
and  their  natural  result  would  have  been  a  schism ; 
but  things  never  went  to  that  length,  and  as  the 
Popes  persisted  in  their  claim  of  right,  whatever 
moderation  they  might  show  in  its  exercise, 
obedience  was  yielded,  though  grudgingly,  and 
Gallicanism  as  a  theological  system  has  long  been 
dead.  (See  n.  304.) 

The  Church   then  is   now  and  has  long  been 


406       POSITION  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  CHURCH.     [269 

governed  as  an  absolute  monarchy,  and  the  monarch 
claims  to  govern  by  Divine  right.  On  the  principle 
of  prescription,  this  fact  alone  proves  that  the  claim 
is  well  founded  (n.  83),  for  the  whole  Church  by 
its  submission  shows  that  it  allows  the  claim,  and 
the  whole  Church  cannot  err  on  a  matter  vitally 
affecting  her  constitution ;  and  further,  if  this  form 
of  government  had  not  existed  from  the  beginning, 
the  monuments  of  history  would  have  told  us  when 
and  under  what  circumstances  the  change  was 
introduced,  whereas  we  find  nothing  of  the  kind. 
There  are  instances  where  men  of  great  weight  in 
the  Church  complain  of  particular  exercises  of  that 
Papal  authority  whose  existence  in  the  abstract 
they  do  not  deny.  A  memorable  case  of  this  is  seen 
in  the  correspondence  between  St.  Cyprian  of 
Carthage  and  Firmilian  of  Caesarea  (St.  Cyprian, 
Letter  75  ;  P.L.  3,  1,202),  complaining  of  the  action 
of  Pope  St.  Stephen  in  reference  to  the  controversy 
as  to  the  validity  of  heretical  Baptism  :  and  we  find 
other  instances  in  the  complaints  made  of  the  Holy 
See  for  entertaining  appeals  which  were  judged  to 
be  frivolous,  or  otherwise  such  as  ought  not  to  be 
received.  Many  other  cases  of  the  same  sort  have 
been  gathered  together  by  the  industry  of  the 
Gallican  divines,  the  full  discussion  of  which  must 
be  sought  elsewhere,  as  in  Jungmann's  Dissertations: 
and  on  the  whole  subject  of  the  position  of  the  Pope 
in  early  history,  the  book  of  Mr.  Allies,  called  The 
Formation  of  Christendom,  is  most  instructive. 

There  is  one  thing  that  history  shows  beyond 
doubt,  namely,  that  appeals  to  Rome  were  in  use 


269]  PRESCRIPTION.  407 

in  the  earliest  times,  and  this  sufficiently  proves 
that  the  authority  of  the  Court  of  Appeal  was 
recognized ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  assign  any  origin 
for  the  practice  except  primititive  institution,  for 
assuredly  the  Bishops  of  Rome  during  the  first 
three  centuries  had  no  force  at  their  command 
except  that  which  the  faith  of  Christians  gave  to 
their  office.  And  there  is  no  trace  of  any  part  of 
their  authority  having  'been  conferred  upon  them 
by  any  Council  or  other  human  authority.  We 
must  therefore  apply  the  principle  spoken  of  as 
St.  Augustine's:  That  which  the  whole  Church 
receives,  when  it  has  not  been  introduced  by  any 
Council  but  by  constant  usage,  must  be  held  to 
have  come  down  from  the  Apostles. 

270.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
described  the  actual  mode  in  which  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  exercises  his  authority  to  teach  and  govern 
the  Church,  and  have  pointed  out  the  proof  from 
prescription  that  this  authority  has  no  human  origin, 
but  is  of  Divine  institution. 


CHAPTER  H. 

WHO  WAS   ST.  PETER? 

271.  Subject  of  Chapter. — In  the  present  chapter 
we  propose  to  consider  what  we  learn  from  Scrip- 
ture and  history  concerning  St.  Peter.      We  shall 
find  that  certain  prerogatives  were  conferred  upon 
this  Prince  of  the  Apostles  by  Christ,  which  are 
identical  with  those  which,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
claimed   and   exercised   by  the  Bishops  of  Rome, 
who   are   his  successors  not  in  the  episcopal  See 
alone,   but   also   in   his   position   of    Head    of    the 
Church  and  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth.     Thus  we 
shall  show  how  we  find  in  Scripture  that  basis  and 
Divine  origin  of  the  Papal  authority,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  which  we  were  assured  by  the  argument 
from  prescription. 

272.  St.  Peter,  Bishop  of  Rome.— That  St.  Peter 
was  at  his  death  Bishop  of  Rome  is  not  a  matter 
of  Divine  revelation  ;  but  it  is  an  historical  truth  so 
closely  connected  with  dogma  as  to  come  within  the 
range  of  the  teaching  authority  of  the  Church  :  it 
is  a  dogmatic  fact  (n.  211),  and  we  have  it  defined 
with    infallible   certainty   by   the    Vatican   Council 
(Constit.  DC  Eccl.  c.  2;   Denz.  1670)  that  St.  Peter 
still  lives  and  oresides  and  judges  in  the  person  of 


*7«]  ST.  PETER,  BISHOP  OF  ROME.  409 

his  successors,  the  Bishops  of  that  Holy  See  of 
Rome,  which  he  founded  and  consecrated  by  the 
shedding  of  his  blood.  The  historical  testimony  to 
this  fact  is  clear,  to  the  effect  that  St.  Peter  was 
Bishop  of  Rome,  and  suffered  death  there  in  the 
year  67,  during  the  persecution  of  Nero.  According 
to  the  common  opinion  his  episcopate  had  begun 
twenty-five  years  before,  but  there  are  some 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  view  into  which  it  is 
needless  to  enter :  the  length  of  his  reign  as  Pope 
at  Rome  is  immaterial.  We  proceed  to  give  a  very 
short  selection  from  the  many  ancient  testimonies 
that  are  available.  More  will  be  found  in  Jung- 
mann's  First  Dissertation. 

First  we  will  mention  Firmilian,  whose  angry 
letter  to  St.  Cyprian  we  have  already  quoted  in 
another  connection,  (n.  269.)  He  says  that  St. 
Stephen,  by  his  conduct,  does  dishonour  to  the 
Apostle  St.  Peter,  whose  successor  he  boasts  to  be. 
(P.L.  3,  1217).  Had  Firmilian  not  known  that  the 
boast  was  well  founded,  he  would  not,  writing  in  so 
angry  a  mood,  have  failed  to  charge  his  adversary 
with  his  falsehood.  This  was  written  about  the 
year  260,  and  is,  it  will  be  observed,  a  testimony 
from  the  East.  St.  Cyprian  agrees  with  his  friend, 
for  he  speaks  of  the  Roman  See  as  "  Peter's  place," 
(Epists.2,8,AdAntonian.;  P.L.  3,  797),  and  describes 
Rome  as  "  the  chair  of  Peter,  the  principal  Church, 
the  source  of  the  unity  of  the  priesthood."  (Epists. 
55,  14,  Ad  Cornel.;  P.L.  3,  844.)  There  are  earlier 
testimonies  from  Tertullian  (De Prescript,  c.  36 ;  P.L. 
249),  from  Origen  (apud  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  3, 1 ;  P.G, 


4to  WHO   IV AS  ST.  PETER f  [272 

20,  215):  in  the  second  century  we  have  St. 
Irenaeus  (Contr.  Hcer.  3,  3 ;  P.G.  7,  848)  and  St.  Denys 
of  Corinth  (Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  2,  .25;  P.G.  20,  208) 
and  others :  while  in  the  first  century  the  fact  that 
St.  Peter  founded  the  Church  at  Rome,  where  he 
suffered  death,  is  testified  by  St.  Clement,  himself 
Pope  and  friend  of  St.  Paul  (Philipp.  iv.  3),  whose 
letter  to  the  Christians  of  Corinth  is  extant  and  has 
always  been  held  in  high  esteem  in  the  Church.  (Ad 
Cor.  c.  5 ;  P.G.  I,  217.) 

Although  we  do  not  find  in  Holy  Scripture  any 
express  mention  of  St.  Peter  having  been  at  Rome, 
yet  curiously  there  is  a  verse  in  which  that  city  is 
not  named  and  which  nevertheless  affords  proof 
that  he  was  at  one  time  resident  in  the  capital  of 
the  world  more  convincing  perhaps  than  is  afforded 
by  such  direct  testimonies  as  we  have  given 
specimens  of.  The  verse  occurs  at  the  end  of  the 
first  Epistle  of  St.  Peter  (i  St.  Peter  v.  13)  and 
runs  as  follows :  "  The  Church  that  is  in  Babylon 
elected  together  with  you,  saluteth  you,  and  so  doth 
my  son  Mark."  St.  Peter  then  wrote  from  a  place 
that  he  calls  Babylon  :  what  place  was  this  ?  There 
was  a  place  /in  Egypt,  not  far  from  Old  Cairo,  bear- 
ing the  name,  but  no  one  thinks  that  St.  Peter 
wrote  from  there ;  and  no  other  place  is  known  to 
have  been  called  Babylon,  except  the  once  great  and 
famous  city  on  the  Euphrates.  The  future  downfall 
of  this  mighty  seat  of  empire  had  been  foretold 
long  before  by  Isaias  (xiii.  xiv.  &c.) ;  and  the 
just  punishment  of  its  oppression  of  the  people  of 
God  and  of  its  exceeding  cruelty  (Duke  of  Argyll, 


272]  ST.  PETER,  &ISHOP  OF  ROME.  41! 

Unseen  Foundations,  141)  had  fallen  upon  it  long 
before  the  days  of  St.  Peter:  after  the  hour  of  its 
capture  by  the  Medes  and  Elamites  it  sank  into 
insignificance,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  a  Christian 
congregation  ever  being  gathered  on  its  site.  But 
in  the  mouths  of  Jews  and  Christians  alike  the  name 
of  Babylon  had  been  transferred  from  the  old  city 
to  its  rival  in  oppression  and  wickedness  that  stood 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  and  there  is  no  room 
for  doubt  that  by  the  Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse 
(xiv.  8,  &c.)  is  meant  the  city  of  Rome.  And  down 
to  the  time  of  the  Reformation  it  was  the  unanimous 
judgment  of  all  writers  who  have  expressed  an 
opinion  that  the  Babylon  of  St.  Peter's  Epistle  is 
this  same  Rome.  Whether  the  view  is  thought  to 
be  well  or  ill-founded,  the  unwonted  agreement  of 
so  many  commentators  proves  convincingly  that 
they  believed  that  St.  Peter  had  lived  at  Rome. 
The  details  of  the  proof  may  be  seen  in  Father 
Cornely's  Special  Introduction  to  the  Epistle. 

But  the  most  persuasive  argument  both  for  the 
residence  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome  and  for  his  Roman 
episcopate  is  of  a  negative  character.  The  records 
that  have  been  preserved  concerning  the  labours 
and  deaths  of  the  Apostles  are  but  scanty,  and 
probably  few  particulars  were  ever  committed  to 
writing  beyond  those  that  have  come  down  to  us. 
Accordingly,  great  uncertainty  prevails  as  to  the 
Churches  they  founded  and  ruled  as  Bishops ;  and 
many  communities  were  anxious  to  claim  the 
honour  of  an  Apostolic  origin  (n.  245),  the  result 
being  that  many  conflicting  accounts  were  current 


4ia  WHO   WAS  ST.  PETER  f  [271 

concerning  each  of  the  Apostles.  There  is  one  case 
only  in  which  the  point  is  of  even  the  slightest 
importance,  and  this  case  is  also  the  sole  exception 
to  the  rule  of  discordant  traditions :  no  Church  but 
Rome  has  ever  claimed  to  have  been  governed  by 
St.  Peter  at  his  death. 

The  difficulties  that  are  put  forward  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  belief  that  St.  Peter  was  Bishop  of  Rome 
at  his  death  are  partly  chronological  and  lose  their 
point  when  it  is  observed  that  we  assert  nothing 
as  to  the  length  of  time  that  he  held  the  See ;  and 
partly  critical,  turning  on  doubts  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness of  some  of  the  ancient  testimonies :  the  dis- 
cussion of  these  doubts  cannot  be  given  here,  but 
we  may  remark  that  they  do  not  touch  the  argu- 
ment derived  from  the  word  Babylon,  nor  that  from 
the  absence  of  all  claim  by  other  Churches. 

273.  The  First  of  the  Apostles. — It  is  generally 
recognized  that  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona,  afterwards 
called  Peter,  is  portrayed  in  the  Gospels  as  holding 
a  position  of  eminence  among  the  Apostles.  Thus 
we  read  that  when  first  brought  to  our  Lord,  he 
received  the  promise  that  his  name  should  be 
changed  (St.  John  i.  42) ;  which  promise  was  after- 
wards fulfilled,  the  change  being  represented  as  a 
special  blessing,  given  in  reward  of  his  lively  spirit 
of  faith.  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  18.)  Now,  we  find  in  Holy 
Scripture,  that  when  God  gave  a  new  name  to  any 
person  it  was  a  sign  that  the  person  was  entering 
on  some  new  position  in  the  Divine  economy  ;  as 
when  Abram  became  Abraham,  the  father  of 
many  nations,  the  father  of  the  faithful.  (Genesis 


273]  THE  FIRST  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  413 

xvii.  5.)  Also  the  new  name  given  to  Simon  was  in 
itself  a  name  of  the  highest  honour,  for  it  is  a  name 
claimed  by  our  Lord  Himself,  for  Peter  means 
stone :  (Isaias  xxvi.  16,  Psalm  cxvii.  22  as  explained 
in  St.  Matt.  xxi.  42,  Acts  iv.  n.)  What  this  new 
name  signified  we  shall  consider  hereafter.  Christ 
also  treated  St.  Peter  as  in  some  sense  on  an. 
equality  with  Himself,  commanding  him  to  pay  the 
tribute  "  for  Me  and  thee  "  (St.  Matt.  xvii.  26) ;  and 
this  favour  seems  to  have  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  other  Apostles.  (St.  Matt,  xviii.  I.)  St.  Peter  was 
one  of  the  three  admitted  to  the  solemn  scene  of  the 
Transfiguration  (St.  Matt.  xvii.  i) :  he  was  present 
at  the  raising  of  the  daughter  of  Jairus  (St.  Mark 
v.  37),  and  in  the  Garden  when  our  Lord  made 
His  prayer  in  preparation  for  His  Passion.  (St. 
Matt.  xxvi.  37.)  After  these  instances  of  dis- 
tinguished favour  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
more :  but  we  may  refer  to  some  places  where 
St.  Peter  acted  as  spokesman  of  the  Apostles  (St. 
Matt.  xiv.  28,  xv.  15,  xvii.  4,  xvii.  21,  &c.) ;  and 
others  where  he  is  mentioned  with  a  turn  of 
phrase  which  marks  him  out  from  the  rest  of 
the.  company.  (St.  Matt.  x.  2  ;  St.  Mark  xvi.  7;  Acts 
ii.  14,  &c.)  We  naturally  expect  to  hear  more 
about  an  Apostle  who  was  thus  peculiarly  favoured 
by  his  Master. 

274.  A  dignity  promised. — We  learn  from  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel  (xvi.  13 — 20)  that  our  Lord, 
when  the  end  of  His  sojourn  on  earth  was  approach- 
•  ng,  took  an  opportunity  of  eliciting  from  St.  Peter 
an  avowal  of  the  great  central  truth  which  he  ha.i 


4M  WHO    WAS  ST.  PETER  f  [27, 

gathered,   without    being    expressly   taught.      The 
account  runs  as  follows  : 

13.  And  Jesus  came  into  the  quarters  of  Cesarea 
Philippi,  and  He  asked  His  disciples,  saying:  Whom 
do  men  say  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  ? 

14.  But  they  said  :  Some  John  the  Baptist,  and 
other  some  Elias,  and  others  Jeremias  or  one  of  the 
Prophets. 

15.  Jesus  saith  to  them :  But  whom  do  you  say 
that  I  am  ? 

16.  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said :  Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

17.  And  Jesus  answering  said  to  him  :  Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona :  because  flesh  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  My  Father  Who  is 
in  Heaven. 

18.  And  J  say  to  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter;  and 
upon  this  rock   I  will  build   My  Church,  and  the 
gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

19.  And    I  will   give   to   thee   the   keys   of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.     And  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  Heaven : 
and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  it  shall 
be  loosed  also  in  Heaven. 

20.  Then    He   commanded    His   disciples   that 
they  should   tell   no  one  that    He  was  Jesus,  the 
Christ. 

It  is  clear  that  these  verses  contain  a  promise  of 
some  kind  of  dignity  or  function  or  position,  what- 
ever its  nature,  to  be  given  to  some  one :  we  reserve 
for  the  two  following  chapters  the  consideration  of 
the  question  what  was  involved  in  the  promised 


274]  A    DIGNITY  PROMISED.  415 

favour,  and  inquire  here  only  as  to  the  recipient  of 
the  promise.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  question 
should  exist  upon  the  subject,  for  the  texts  seem  to 
express  with  sufficient  clearness  that  the  promise 
is  made  to  Peter  alone :  but  the  exigences  of  contro- 
versy have  led  some  Catholics  who  were  not  fully 
loyal  to  the  Holy  See  to  maintain  that  the  promise 
is  made  to  the  Apostles  collectively,  in  the  person 
of  Peter :  that  the  Apostles  represented  the  Church  ; 
and  that  the  Church  in  turn  put  the  power  which 
it  had  received  into  the  hands  of  Peter  and  his 
successors,  the  Popes.  We,  on  the  other  hand, 
maintain  that  the  promise  was  made  to  Peter  alone, 
and  that  the  authority  of  the  Pope  comes  imme- 
diately from  God  and  is  not  given  to  him  by  the 
Church.  The  point  now  has  been  defined  by 
the  Church.  (Aitct.  Fid.  2  and  3;  Denz.  1365, 
1366;  and  the  Vatican  Council,  Sess.  4,  cap.  I, 
Denz.  1668.) 

That  the  promise  was  made  to  the  individual  is 
shown  by  the  change  of  number  in  the  pronoun,  the 
"  you  "  of  verse  15,  changing  to  "  thou  "  in  verse  18 ; 
and  it  is  to  be  observed  that  verse  17  is  plainly 
personal.  Also,  verse  18  interprets  the  new  personal 
name  Peter,  and  corresponds  to  the  personal  avowal 
of  verse  16:  the  promise  is  a  reward  for  this 
avowal,  and  it  would  be  a  mockery  to  offer  to 
reward  a  man  for  his  personal  merit  by  a  favour  to 
a  large  body  of  persons.  There  are  cases,  as  we 
have  already  pointed  out  (n.  273),  where  St.  Peter 
spoke  in  answer  to  a  question  put  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  Apostles ;  but  when  this  is  so,  our  Lord 


41*  WHO   WAS  ST.  PETER  f  [274 

addresses  His  further  remark  to  the  whole  bo.ly, 
and  not  to  the  spokesman.  (St.  Matt.  xix.  26 — 28 ; 
St.  John  vi.  68 — 71.) 

Some  Protestant  commentators,  catching  at 
straws,  endeavour  to  make  out  that  the  words  Peter 
and  Rock  do  not  mean  the  same  thing,  and  that 
therefore  the  words  "  will  build  "  contain  no 
promise  at  all,  but  merely  express  an  intention  with 
which  Peter  has  no  special  concern.  They  think 
that  the  Rock  on  which  the  Church  is  to  be  built  is 
either  the  faith  of  Peter,  or  is  Christ  Himself.  This 
last  view  makes  Christ  to  have  been  guilty  of  heart- 
less mockery,  raising  hopes  and  then  frustrating 
them ;  but  the  view  that  the  Rock  is  the  faith  of 
Peter  is  an  interpretation  which,  though  inadequate, 
is  not  untrue,  and  as  such,  has  been  adopted  by 
many  Catholic  commentators.  But  the  interpreta- 
tion is  inadequate :  for  the  reasons  already  given, 
the  Rock  must  be  the  person  Peter  ;  but  it  is  Peter 
considered  not  merely  as  a  man,  but  as  one  whose 
simplicity  of  faith  led  him  to  adopt  in  his  heart  the 
teaching  of  his  Master,  tremendous  as  was  the 
mystery  involved  in  that  teaching ;  and  whost  love 
made  him  bold  and  unhesitating  in  proclaiming  he 
truth  that  he  had  learned.  The  Rock  is  neither 
Peter  apart  from  his  belief,  not  the  belief  apart  from 
Peter ;  but  it  is  the  believing  Peter. 

A  linguistic  ground  is  sometimes  adduced  for 
the  distinction  between  Peter  (/lerpo?,  Petrus). 
and  the  Rock  (/ItVpa,  Petra).  It  is  observed 
that  though  the  body  of  the  two  words  is  the 
same  in  St.  Matthew's  Greek,  just  as  it  is  id 


a?4]  A    DIGNITY  PROMISED.  417 

the  Latin,  yet  the  terminations  differ;  and  it  is 
suggested  that  this  difference  indicates  a  differ- 
ence of  meaning.  The  diversity,  however,  admits 
of  less  violent  explanation.  The  Greek  word 
for  Rock  chances  to  have  a  feminine  termination, 
and  it  cannot  be  applied  to  a  man  without  pro- 
ducing a  ludicrous  effect :  to  avoid  this  incon- 
venience, the  Evangelist  altered  the  termination  of 
the  proper  name,  but  retained  the  other  word  in 
the  usual  form.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Greek 
of  St.  Matthew  contains  the  only  original  record  of 
these  words  of  Christ  that  has  come  down  to  us 
(n.  no);  but  it  is  not  likely  that  Christ  spoke 
Greek  on  this  occasion :  it  is  far  more  probable  that 
He  used  a  language  almost  identical  with  what  is 
now  called  Syriac,  from  which  it  differed  merely  as 
one  dialect  differs  from  another :  and  we  possess  a 
Syriac  translation  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  made 
certainly  within  a  single  century  after  the  conversa- 
tion of  our  Lord  with  St.  Peter :  in  this  version,  the 
words  for  Peter  and  Rock  are  absolutely  identical. 
Any  one  who  opens  the  place  in  a  Syriac  Bible 
may,  without  knowing  a  single  letter  of  the  language, 
convince  himself  that  the  same  word  occurs  twice 
in  the  verse,  without  the  smallest  difference.  It  is 
pronounced  Keepho,  and  corresponds  to  Cephas. 
The  French  language  similarly  admits  the  use  of 
the  identically  same  form,  Pierre,  in  both  places : 
other  modern  vernaculars,  like  the  Greek  and  Latin, 
require  some  modification  to  suit  the  difference  of 
gender. 

275.  Assistance  promised. — Christ  does  not  entrust 
BB  VOL.  I, 


«i8  WHO    WAS  ST.  PETER  f  [275 

any  office  to  men  without  giving  them  the  aids 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  do  their  work ;  and  so 
we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  the  promise  that 
we  have  been  considering  is  followed  up  by  another, 
giving  the  assurance  of  assistance.  It  is  read  in 
St.  Luke's  Gospel  (xxii.  31,  32),  and  was  spoken  in 
the  course  of  the  Last  Supper. 

31.  And  the  Lord  said :  Simon,  Simon,  behold, 
Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you  that  he  may  sift  you 
as  wheat. 

32.  But  I  have  prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail 
not ;  and  thou,  being  once  converted,  confirm  thy 
brethren. 

We  here  have  the  promise  of  our  Lord  that  He 
has  prayed  in  a  special  manner  that  the  faith  of 
Peter  may  not  fail  in  the  time  when  grievous 
temptation  comes  upon  him :  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  words  are  addressed  to  Peter  person- 
ally and  not  to  the  whole  company  of  the  Apostles 
as  represented  by  him :  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  are 
included  among  the  brethren  whom  Peter  is  to 
confirm.  We  shall  see  hereafter  (chapters  iii.  and 
iv.)  what  is  the  full  meaning  of  the  promise  here 
given. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  the  translation  "  being 
converted  "  is  not  free  from  doubt :  there  is  some 
authority  for  taking  the  word  to  mean  "  in  turn." 
(Venerable  Bede  quoted  without  disapproval  by 
Cornelius  a  Lapide  and  others.)  Father  Palmieri 
(De  Roman.  Pontif.  p.  358)  urges  that  as  no  refer- 
ence had  yet  been  made  to  the  impending  fall  of 
Peter,  it  was  out  of  place  to  tell  him  what  he  was  to 


75]  ASSISTANCE  PROMISED.  4x9 

do  when  he  had  recovered  the  grace  of  God  :  besides 
which,  his  work  of  confirming  was  not  to  begin  at 
once,  but  only  after  he  had  received  the  final  com- 
mission of  which  we  are  to  speak  next.  The  differ- 
ence is  of  no  great  importance. 

276.  The  dignity  conferred. — The  dignity  which 
had  been  promised  to  St.  Peter,  and  for  the  due 
bearing  of  which  he  was  to  receive  special  assist- 
ance, was  actually  conferred  on  him  by  Christ,  after 
His  Resurrection,  when  He  stood  on  the  short  of 
the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  was  seen  and  recognized 
by  St.  John  and  St.  Peter,  and  five  other  of  the 
disciples.  The  account  is  read  in  St.  John's  Gospel. 

(xxi.  15—17-) 

15.  When,  therefore,  they  had  dined,  Jesus  saith 
to  Simon  Peter:  Simon,   son  of  John,  lovest  thou 
Me  more  than  these  ?     He  saith  to  Him,  Yea,  Lord, 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee.     He  saith  to  him, 
Feed  My  lambs. 

16.  He.  saith  to  him  again,  Simon,  son  of  John, 
lovest   thou    Me  ?     He   saith  to    Him,  Yea,   Lord, 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee.     He  saith  to  him, 
Feed  My  lambs. 

17.  He  said  to  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of 
John,  lovest  thou  Me  ?     Peter  was  grieved  because 
He  said  to  him  the  third  time,  Lovest  thou  Me  ? 
And  he  said  to  Him,  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things : 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee.     He  said  to  him, 
Feed  My  sheep. 

In  reference  to  this  passage  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  our  translation,  following  the  Vulgate  Latin, 
uses  the  same  word,  Feed,  in  all  the  three  verses. 


«20  WHO    WAS    ST.  PETER  f  [276 

This  exactly  represents  the  word  employed  in  the 
Greek  original  (fioa-tce)  in  the  verses  16  and  18 :  but 
in  verse  17,  St.  John  uses  a  different  word  (iroinawe) , 
which  is  rather  wider  than  "  Feed,"  tor  it  means, 
"  Be  a  shepherd  to ;  "  to  feed  the  flock  is  a  principal 
part  of  the  work  of  a  shepherd,  but  it  is  not  the 
whole :  it  also  belongs  to  him  to  euide  and  guard 
them.  Also  we  may  remark  that  though  the  ordi- 
nary Greek  text  uses  the  same  word  (Trpo/Bara), 
translated  "  sheep,"  both  in  verse  16  and  verse  17 ; 
yet  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  true  reading 
in  verse  16  would  give  a  word  (Trpoftdria},  signifying 
animals  of  an  age  intermediate  between  the  lambs 
(dpvla)  of  verse  16  and  the  full-grown  sheep  of 
verse  18.  Here  again  the  difference,  though  interest- 
ing, is  of  little  import. 

277.  The  Acts  and  Epistles. — As  to  the  conduct  of 
the  Apostles  after  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
(Act  ii.  i),  we  learn  little  from  Holy  Scripture, 
except  in  the  cases  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  We 
have  a  large  number  of  Epistles  written  by  St.  Paul, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  is 
concerned  with  his  journeys  and  preaching:  but 
with  the  exception  of  his  so-called  rebuke  of 
St.  Peter  (Galat.  ii.  n — 14),  which  will  be  considered 
presently,  there  is  no  trace  of  his  having  occupied 
any  position  of  pre-eminence  among  the  band  of 
Apostles.  It  is  true  that  the  Roman  Pontiffs  some- 
times warn  such  as  contemn  their  authority  that 
they  will  incur  the  wrath  of  the  holy  Apostles  Peter 
and  Paul  (see  for  example  the  close  of  the  Bull, 
Ineflabilis  Dciis,  December  8,  1854,  defining  the 


277]  THE  ACTS  AND  EPISTLES.  421 

dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception),  and  that 
the  two  names  are  often  coupled  together  on  other 
occasions :  but  the  Popes  have  never  professed  to 
hold  their  authority  as  successors  to  St.  Paul,  but 
always  trace  it  to  St.  Peter :  and  the  frequency  with 
which  the  names  are  coupled  together  is  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  they  are  honoured  as 
the  joint  principal  patrons  of  the  Church  of  the 
city  where  they  suffered  death.  There  is,  therefore, 
no  foundation  for  the  fancy  put  forward  by  the 
Jansenists,  with  the  view  of  lowering  the  authority 
of  the  Holy  See,  that  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  formed, 
in  some  sense,  a  joint  head  of  the  Church.  (See 
Denz.  965.) 

St.  Peter,  on  the  other  hand,  is  exhibited  in  the 
Acts  as  occupying  a  position  of  unmistakable  promi- 
nence. It  is  he  whose  preaching  gathers  the  very 
first  converts  into  the  Church  (Acts  ii.  14,  41),  and 
he  continued  to  be  the  speaker  on  other  occasions 
(iii.  12,  iv.  8),  so  that  St.  Chrysostom  was  right  in 
calling  him  "the  mouth  that  spoke  for  all"  (Horn.  4, 
In  Act.  n.  3 ;  P.G.  60,  46.)  St.  Peter  receives  and 
executes  the  commission  to  guard  Christians  against 
errors  into  which  they  were  liable  to  fall.  (Acts  x. 
9,  34,  47 ;  xv.  7.)  St.  Peter  was  foremost  in  the 
working  of  those  miracles  by  which  the  preaching  of 
the  new  faith  was  confirmed  (Acts  iii.  6 ;  v.  13 — 16), 
where  we  see  that  the  multitude,  taught  doubtless 
by  experience,  believed  that  the  passing  of  the 
shadow  of  Peter  had  power  to  cure,  just  as  ttte 
touch  of  the  garment  of  our  Lord  worked  immediate- 
cure  (St.  Mark  v.  24 — 34,  and  compare  St.  John 


4M  WHO    WAS  ST.  PElERf  t«77 

xiv.  12),  as  did  the  bones  of  the  Prophet  Eliseus. 
(4  Kings  xiii.  21.)  So  much  for  the  action  of 
St.  Peter  in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
*aith ;  we  find  him  also  prominent  in  attending  to 
the  internal  affairs  of  the  Church.  It  is  he  who 
takes  the  lead  among  the  hundred  and  twenty  (Acts 
i.  15),  requiring  them  to  join  in  choosing  a  successor 
to  Judas ;  and  if  it  be  asked  why  he  did  not  make 
the  appointment  by  his  own  authority,  the  answer 
is  that  he  wished  to  avoid  odium  and  the  risk  of 
being  charged  with  favouritism  :  such  at  least  is  the 
explanation  given  by  St.  Chrysostom  in  the  Homily 
immediately  preceding  that  just  quoted  (Horn.  3, 
In  Act.  n.  2 ;  P.G.  60,  35) ;  in  which  prudent  con- 
descension he  has  been  imitated  by  his  successors, 
who  often  listen  to  the  wishes  of  the  local  clergy 
when  a  Bishop  is  to  be  appointed.  It  was  St.  Peter 
who  condemned  the  first  heretic,  Simon  (Acts  viii. 
18 — 24),  and  who  was,  in  the  words  of  St.  Jerome, 
"chief  mover  of  the  decree  that  after  the  Gospel 
the  law  of  Moses  was  no  longer  to  be  observed  " 
(Acts  xv.,  and  St.  Jerome,  Epist.  112,  n.  8;  P.L. 
22,  920) ;  and,  to  mention  no  more,  it  was  at  his 
word  that  God  by  miracle  enforced  the  law  of  the 
Church  concerning  vows  in  the  case  of  Ananias  and 
Sapphira.  (Acts  v.  i — n,  and  see  the  overwhelming 
proof  in  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  ad  loc.) 

278.  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter. — We  have  said  enough 
perhaps  to  show  that  St.  Peter  held  a  position  of 
some  kind  of  pre-eminence  in  the  early  Church,  and 
it  only  remains  to  notice  the  one  passage  which  has 
been  quoted  as  tending  in  the  opposite  direction. 


Z78]  ST.  PAUL  AND  ST.  PETER.  423 

It  occurs  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Galatians. 
He  tells  us  that  (i.  18,  ig)  he  went  to  Jerusalem  to 
see  Peter,  but  other  of  the  Apostles  he  saw  none 
save  James  the  brother  of  the  Lord :  and  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  word  used  with  reference 
to  St.  Peter,  and  translated  "s€e"  (urropfjo-ai),  is 
different  from  that  employed  directly  afterwards 
of  St.  James  (elSov).  The  first  word  does  not  occur 
elsewhere  in  the  Scripture,  but  is  not  uncommon 
in  profane  authors,  and  is  used  of  visits  to  impressive 
objects,  such  as  an  oracle  (Eurip.  Ion,  1547) ;  and  it 
is  employed  by  Josephus,  a  contemporary  of  St.  Paul, 
when  he  tells  that  he  had  seen  the  pillar  of  salt 
representing  Lot's  wife.  (Antiq.  Jud.  i.  n,  4.) 
St.  Jerome  (ad  loc.;  P.L.  26,  339)  remarks  that 
St.  Paul  did  not  visit  St.  Peter  merely  in  order  to 
see  what  sort  of  a  man  he  was :  as,  whether  he 
was  bald,  as  tradition  relates.  The  word  used  of 
St.  James  is  the  common  word  for  "  saw."  And  in 
the  second  chapter  we  have  the  following : 

11.  But  when  Cephas  was  come  to  Antioch,  I 
withstood  him  to  the  face,  because  he  was  to  be 
blamed. 

12.  For  before  that  some  came  from  James,  he 
did   eat   with   the   Gentiles:   but   when  they  were 
come,  he  withdrew  and  separated  himself,  fearing 
them  who  were  of  the  circumcision. 

13.  And   to   his   dissimulation   the   rest   of  the 
Jews  assented,  so  that  Barnabas  also  was  led  away 
by  them  into  that  dissimulation. 

14.  But  when  I  saw  they  walked  not  uprightly 
unto  the   truth   of  the   Gospel,   I  said  to   Cephas 


414  WHO    WAS  ST.  PETER  f  [278 

before  them  all :  If  thou,  being  a  Jew,  livest  after 
the  manner  of  the  Gentiles,  and  not  as  the  Jews  do, 
how  dost  thou  compel  the  Gentiles  to  live  as  do  the 
Jews? 

The  history,  in  other  words,  was  this.  Some 
converts  from  Judaism  continued  to  observe  the 
Mosaic  Law  as  to  meats  (Levit.  ii.),  which  the 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  following  the  judgment  of 
St.  Peter,  with  the  full  concurrence  of  St.  Paul, 
declared  not  to  be  of  obligation,  while  it  did  not 
forbid  the  practice.  (Acts  xv.  i — 29,  and  compare 
Galat.  v.  3  and  n.  220.)  St.  Peter,  being  at 
Antioch,  and  living  in  company  with  Gentile  con- 
verts, made  a  practice  of  eating  freely  in  company 
with  them ;  but  when  certain  converts  of  Jewish 
birth  came  from  Jerusalem,  St.  Peter  finding  that 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  observing  the  law,  judged 
it  best  to  conform  to  their  usage.  St.  Paul,  learning 
this,  thought  that  the  practice  of  St.  Peter  might 
lead  the  Gentiles  into  the  mistake  of  thinking  that 
they  were  bound  to  the  law,  an  error  which  was 
only  too  prevalent  and  against  which  he  was  never 
tired  of  protesting.  Under  these  circumstances,  he 
remonstrated  with  St.  Peter  on  his  conduct,  in  the 
words  given  in  verse  14. 

This  history  has  been  considered  to  show  that 
St.  Paul  regarded  himself  as  the  superior,  or  at  least 
the  equal,  of  St.  Peter  whom  he  rebuked  :  also  that 
it  proves  St.  Peter  to  have  fallen  into  heresy. 
Several  remarks  occur. 

(a)  The  use  that  may  be  made  of  this  passage  in 
opposition  to  Catholic  doctrine  is  no  new  discovery : 


278]  ST.  PAUL  AND  ST.  PETER.  425 

it  was  familiar  to  the  Ebionite  heretics  (Clementines, 
17,  19;  P.G.  2,  401),  to  the  heathen  philosopher 
Porphyry  (St.  Jerome,  Prol.  ad  Galat. ;  P.L.  26,  310), 
to  the  Marcionites,  and  to  the  Apostate  Emperor, 
Julian.  (Hurter,  Compendium,  I,  366.) 

(b)  Some  have  thought  that  the  Cephas  men- 
tioned in  the  text  was  a  different  person  from  the 
Apostle  St.  Peter,  although  these  are  the  forms  of 
the   same   name   in   the   two   languages   in  use   in 
Palestine  (St.  John  i.  42),  and  there  is  no  trace  of 
the   existence   of  any  other   person   of  the   name. 
This  idea  is  supported  by  Clement  of  Alexandria 
(in  Euseb.  H.E.  i,  12;  P.G.  20,  117),  but  it  now 
finds   favour  with   few  or  none,  and   it  need   not 
detain  us. 

(c)  Others  say  that   the   supposed   rebuke  was 
merely   fictitious,   and   that   the   whole   scene   wis 
pre-arranged,  in  order  to  impress  the  true  doctrine 
as  to  the  Jewish  law  more  forcibly  on  the  minds  of 
all.     This  view  attributes  to  the  Apostles  a  course 
of  double-dealing  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  sim- 
plicity that  ought  to  mark  Christian  preaching ;  and 
although   it   has  the  high  authority  of  St.  Jerome 
(Comment,  in  Galat.  2,  n  ;  P.L.  26,  339),  who  says 
that    it    originated    with    Origen    (Epist.    112,    5; 
P.L.  22,  919),  and  was  supported  in  a  homily  of 
St.  Chrysostom    on   the    place    (P.G.    51,   375),   it 
elicited  an  indignant  letter  of  remonstrance  from 
St.  Augustine  (Epist.  40,  3;  PX.  33,   155),  and  is 
now  generally  rejected. 

(d)  From   what   has   been   said   in   these   three 
paragraphs  it   is   plain  that  Catholic  and  heretic, 


t*6  WHO  WAS  ST.  PETER?  [278 

apostate  and  heathen,  agreed  in  thinking  that  an 
injury  would  be  done  to  the  Christian  cause  if  it 
were  established  that  St.  Peter  had  a  superior  or  an 
equal  in  the  Church :  their  comments,  therefore, 
afford  strong  support  to  the  doctrine  that  we  are 
upholding. 

(«)  There  is  no  pretence  for  saying  that  St.  Peter 
failed  in  faith,  for  not  a  word  is  said  showing  that 
he  had  fallen  away  from  the  belief  which  he  had 
himself  formulated  at  Jerusalem.  (Acts  xv.  10.)  The 
most  that  can  be  charged  against  him  is  a  want  of 
prudence,  and  it  does  not  concern  us  to  discuss  the 
truth  of  this  charge. 

(/)  The  conduct  of  St.  Paul  does  not  imply 
superiority  or  even  equality,  for  the  duty  of  fraternal 
correction  extends  to  inferiors,  in  regard  to  their 
superiors ;  so  that  subjects  are  not  only  allowed  on 
a  fitting  occasion,  to  correct  the  r  prelates,  but  are 
even  bound  to  do  so,  as  St.  Thomas  teaches.  (Sum. 
Theol.  2.  2.  q.  33.  aa.  3.  and  4.)  It  would  excite  no 
surprise  at  the  present  day  to  learn  that  one  of  the 
Cardinals  called  the  attention  of  the  Pope  to  the 
likelihood  of  scandal  arising  from  some  course  of 
conduct  which  he  had  adopted  without  due  con- 
sideration. The  faithful  counsellor  would  be  praised. 
But  what  St.  Paul  did  is  no  more  than  that  Cardinal 
would  do. 

(g)  The  example  of  St.  Peter  is  said  to  "compel" 
the  Gentiles  to  live  as  Jews  :  a  most  forcible  expres- 
sion, showing  the  influence  that  St.  Peter  possessed  : 
the  contrary  example  of  St.  Paul  had  no  power  to 
"  compel "  the  faithful  to  imitate  him. 


278]  ST.  PAUL   AND  ST.  PETER.  427 

Thus  the  only  passage  of  Scripture  which  can 
be  quoted  against  the  pre-eminence  of  St.  Peter 
really  affords  cogent  proof  of  his  unique  and  high 
position. 

279.  Recapitulation. —  In  this  very  important 
chapter  we  have  seen  that  St.  Peter  died  Bishop 
of  Rome ;  that  his  pre-eminence  among  the  Apostles 
is  indicated  in  the  Scripture  in  various  ways :  that 
a  great  dignity  was  first  promised  and  then  conferred 
upon  him,  with  a  promise  of  special  assistance :  and 
this  doctrine  is  confirmed  by  the  only  passage  which 
has  even  an  appearance  of  being  opposed  to  it.  It 
remains  to  see  what  was  involved  in  the  dignity  of 
which  we  speak. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    PRIMACY. 

280.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  the  first  chapter 
of  this  Treatise  we  saw  that  the  successive  Bishops 
of  Rome  in  fact  exercise,  and  have  long  exercised, 
a  primacy  in  the  Church :  in  the  second  chapter  we 
showed  that  St.  Peter,  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome, 
received  certain  special  and  peculiar  dignities  and 
favours  from  Christ,  and  that  after  the  Ascension 
he  occupied  a  distinguished  position  among  the 
Apostles.  We  have  now  to  consider  more  par- 
ticularly what  was  involved  in  the  prerogatives 
granted  to  St.  Peter,  and  we  shall  find  that  they 
included,  among  other  things,  a  primacy,  not  of 
honour  alone,  but  of  jurisdiction,  over  the  whole 
Church,  granted  by  God,  and  not  conferred  by 
man :  and  that  the  monarchial  constitution  of  the 
Church,  thus  established,  was  no  merely  temporary 
arrangement  which  died  with  the  first  monarch, 
but  that  it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  constitution 
of  the  Church  as  now  existing,  and  as  it  will  con- 
tinue to  the  end  of  time. 

In  the  following  chapter  we  shall  show  that 
these  prerogatives  included  also  the  gift  of  Infalli- 
bility which  is  enjoyed  in  virtue  of  their  office  by 


28o]  SUBJECT  OF  THE   CHAPTER.  429 

the    Popes,  when    speaking  under   certain    circum- 
stances that  will  be  explained. 

These  two  points  of  doctrine,  the  Primacy  of 
Divine  right  and  the  Infallibility,  have  been  the 
chief  subjects  of  controversy  ever  since  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  a  full 
half  of  the  theological  literature  of  the  last  three- 
and-a-half  centuries  has  been  a  commentary  upon 
the  three  classical  texts  which  we  set  forth  in 
the  last  chapter.  Our  treatment  of  the  immense 
subject  must  necessarily  be  very  short.  We  shall 
try  to  set  forth  the  Catholic  argument  with  all 
possible  clearness,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  answer 
by  anticipation  the  chief  difficulties  that  are  urged 
against  our  doctrine.  These  difficulties  can  be 
turned  into  a  great  variety  of  shapes,  and  some- 
times our  doctrine  is  attacked  with  cavils  that  do 
not  deserve  the  name  of  difficulties.  It  were  end- 
less to  attempt  to  deal  with  all  these,  and  we  must 
be  content  to  refer  to  the  immense  collection  put 
together  by  the  industry  of  Dr.  Murray,  in  the  third 
volume  of  his  great  work,  De  Ecclesia,  where  each 
receives  its  appropriate  answer  in  scholastic  form. 
Waterworth's  Faith  of  Catholics,  to  which  we  have 
often  referred,  will  be  found  peculiarly  useful  as 
collecting  the  passages  of  the  Fathers  that  have  a 
bearing  upon  the  controversy. 

281.  The  Centre  of  Unity. — We  have  seen  (nn. 
213 — 227)  how  perfect  is  the  unity  which  Christ 
would  have  in  His  Church,  a  unity  comparable  to 
the  perfect  unity  of  the  Divine  Father  and  His 
Consubstantial  Son  (St.  John  xvii.  21),  with  unity 


430  THE  PRIMACY.  [281 

of  faith,  of  worship  and  of  government :  and  we 
showed  also  (n.  254)  that  this  unity  is  found  in  that 
body  of  Christians  who  look  up  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  as  their  Head,  and  in  none  other.  But  we 
were  somewhat  hampered  in  that  discussion,  for 
we  had  not  then  established  that  the  Pope  holds 
his  position  by  a  Divine  right ;  and  his  authority 
might,  so  far  as  our  argument  had  gone,  have  been 
a  mutable  arrangement,  originating  perhaps  in  the 
free  choice  of  the  Bishops,  and  subject  to  be  over- 
turned by  the  authority  that  brought  it  into  being. 
But  the  eternal  Oneness  of  the  Triune  God  would  be 
poorly  represented  by  an  institution  composed  of 
many  elements,  united  for  the  time  in  virtue  of  a 
mutable  agreement,  but  liable  to  fall  to  pieces  as 
soon  as  this  agreement  came  to  an  end.  We  are, 
therefore,  prepared  to  find  that  the  Divine  Wisdom 
devised  and  the  Divine  Goodness  carried  out  some 
more  excellent  plan  for  securing  to  the  Church  that 
perfection  of  unity  which  it  was  destined  to  enjoy. 

We  may  consider  various  suggestions  as  to  the 
means  by  which  this  unity  might  have  been  secured  : 
and  first,  it  is  said  by  some  that  the  Holy  Scripture, 
if  duly  used,  will  suffice  for  the  purpose.  But  this 
theory  supposes  that  all  are  at  one  as  to  the  list  of 
books  composing  the  Scripture,  and  as  to  their 
special  character,  which  is  far  from  being  the  case,  as 
we  saw  in  our  third  Treatise.  Also,  the  Scripture  at 
best  can  but  teach  the  faith  ;  it  cannot  help  to  unity 
of  worship  or  of  government ;  and  in  the  absence 
of  an  authentic  interpreter  it  is  so  hard  to  under- 
stand, that  men  derive  from  it  the  most  diverse 


zii]  THE  CENTRE  OF   UNITY.  431 

conclusions  on  the  most  vital  points,  although  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  have  made  faithful 
use  of  their  opportunities  of  gathering  the  meaning. 
Nor  can  the  power  of  the  State  be  considered  as  a 
divinely  appointed  means  of  securing  religious  unity, 
for  the  State  has  its  own  work  to  do,  which  is 
totally  distinct  from  the  end  of  the  Church  (nn. 
175,  179,  180) :  it  cannot  show  any  commission 
to  teach  religious  doctrine,  and  experience  shows 
that  civil  governors,  even  if  they  call  themselves 
Christians,  are  far  from  agreeing  in  their  faith. 
The  agreement  of  Christian  people  at  large  is  not 
the  bond  of  unity,  for  it  is  they  who  require  to  be 
kept  in  the  one  true  way,  and  they  are  under  a 
divinely  instituted  hierarchy,  as  we  have  shown, 
(nn.  199—203.) 

A  notion  which  is  widely  entertained  among 
those  who  do  not  accept  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
the  centre  of  unity,  makes  unity  to  depend  upon 
the  agreeing  voice  of  the  Bishops.  If  by  this  is 
intended  that  we  must  listen  to  the  voice  of  the 
Bishops  of  antiquity,  it  is  enough  to  reply  that  these 
are  dead,  and  can  speak  to  us  only  through  their 
writings :  and  these  writings  lend  themselves  to 
diverse  interpretations  no  less  readily  than  the 
Scriptures  themselves.  If  the  episcopate  of  the 
present  day  is  meant,  we  need  an  external  test  to 
determine  who  are  the  legitimate  members  of  that 
body :  for  there  may  be  false  bishops,  no  less  than 
false  prophets  (St.  Matt.  xxiv.  24)  and  false  apostles 
(2  Cor.  xi.  13) ;  and  if  two  among  them  differ,  as 
may  well  happen,  whether  on  a  point  of  faith,  or  as 


43*  THE  PRIMACY.  [281 

to  the  bounds  of  their  dioceses  or  any  other  point 
of  government,  who  is  to  decide  the  controversy  ? 

But  if  the  supreme  power  of  teaching  and 
governing  is  by  Divine  appointment,  in  the  hands 
of  one  living  man,  these  difficulties  find  no  place. 
He  is  living  and  accessible  and  is  able  to  make  his 
meaning  clear  beyond  doubt ;  and  if  all  recognize 
that  his  decisions  are  final  and  binding  upon  them, 
then  is  unity  secured* in  its  perfection.  It  is  not 
well  for  man  to  anticipate  what  God  must  do  to 
attain  a  certain  end,  for  this  is  to  pit  his  puny 
wisdom  against  the  Infinite :  but  we  may  say  that 
these  considerations  prepare  us  not  to  be  surprised 
if  we  find  that  the  unity  of  the  Church  is  secured 
by  the  authority  of  an  individual  living  man  as 
centre  of  unity. 

282.  Peter  the  Foundation. — We  saw  (n.  274)  that 
Christ  promised  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  18)  to  build  His 
Church  upon  St.  Peter :  we  have  now  to  show  that 
by  this  metaphorical  but  most  expressive  language, 
the  promise  was  given  to  St.  Peter  of  the  primacy 
of  jurisdiction  in  the  Church.  This  follows  plainly: 
for  the  foundation  of  a  building  is  the  most  indis- 
pensable part  of  the  building,  being  that  on  which 
the  strength  of  the  whole  structure  mainly  depends, 
and  in  the  choice  of  which  the  wisdom  of  the 
builder  is  chiefly  shown.  (See  St.  Matt.  v.  24 ;  Psalm 
xxxix.  3.)  The  foundation  does  not  merely  support 
the  building,  but  it  has  an  independent  complete- 
ness of  its  own,  so  that  when  the  foundation  is  laid, 
the  builder  feels  that  a  substantial  part  of  his  work 
has  been  done ;  and  further,  that  the  extent  and 


282]  PETER   THE  FOUNDATION.  433 

general  character  of  the  building  is  unalterably 
determined :  no  further  extension  is  possible,  for 
what  does  not  rest  on  the  foundation  is  not  part  of 
the  house. 

We  learn,  therefore,  that  the  whole  Church 
depends  upon  St.  Peter,  while  he  himself  does  not 
derive  support  from  that  which  rests  upon  him. 
His  position  is  unique,  just  as  the  foundation  stands 
alone  and  is  independent  of  the  rest.  If  all  the 
house  were  removed  the  foundation  would  remain : 
but  if  the  foundation  be  shaken  no  part  of  the  house 
can  stand. 

283.  The  Promise  of  the  Keys. — In  the  verse 
following  that  which  we  have  been  considering 
(St.  Matt.  xvi.  19),  the  promise  is  made  to  St.  Peter 
that  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  shall  be 
given  to  him,  and  we  must  see  what  this  implies. 
The  phrase  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  perpetually  used 
for  the  Church  Militant  (St.  Matt.  x.  9,  and  in 
chapter  xiii.  and  elsewhere  frequently),  so  that  in 
the  verse  we  are  considering  it  must  have  the  same 
meaning  as  the  words  "  My  Church  "  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse ;  and  we  observe  that  the  discourse  in 
both  cases  concerns  the  whole  of  the  object,  and 
not  a  part  only.  Further,  the  phrase  "givo  the 
keys,"  implies  that  the  object  is  put  entirely  at  the 
disposal  of  the  recipient.  To  hand  over  the  key  of 
a  house  is  not  merely  a  conventional  sign  of  yielding 
possession :  the  connection  is  natural,  for  he  that 
has  the  key  is  master.  He  can  enter  and  go  out  at 
his  pleasure,  admit  guests  and  exclude  those  whom 
he  does  not  wish  to  receive.  The  key  is  regarded 
cc 


434  THE  PRIMACY.  [283 

as  the  instrument  of  imprisonment,  and  this  explains 
the  second  half  of  the  verse,  where  the  power  of 
binding  and  loosing  is  promised  to  St.  Peter:  he 
can  bind  and  throw  into  prison,  he  can  loose  and 
unlock  the  door.  It  is  remarked  that  there  are 
three  ways  in  which  the  souls  of  men  may  be  said 
to  be  bound :  by  the  bond  of  law,  of  sin,  and  of 
punishment.  St.  Peter  is  to  exercise  the  first  in  his 
capacity  of  legislator,  in  whose  power  is  included 
the  power  to  dispense  from  law :  the  second  con- 
cerns the  administration  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance,  in  which  absolution  from  sin  is  granted  or 
withheld,  according  to  the  judgment  formed  by  the 
confessor  concerning  the  dispositions  of  the  penitent : 
the  third  bond  is  relaxed  when  Indulgences  are 
granted.  But  these  matters  will  be  discussed  in 
their  own  place,  when  we  treat  of  the  Sacraments. 

284.  The  Confirmer. — The  text  which  we  quoted 
from  St.  Luke  (xxii.  31,  32 ;  n.  265)  assures  us  that 
the  faith  of  Peter  will  not   fail,  for  the  prayer  of 
Christ  is  always  efficacious  (St.  John  ii.  42),  and 
that  the  faith  of  others,  especially  of  his  brethren 
the  Apostles,  depends  upon  his  support.     We  thus 
see  that  he  has  a  Divine  commission  to  guide  others 
in  the  faith,  however  eminent  their  station  in  the 
Church ;  and  thus  is  the  centre  of  unity  of  faith  : 
but  the  bearing  of  the  text  on  Infallibility  is  more 
direct  than  on  Primacy. 

285.  The  Office  of  Shepherd. — In  the  last  of  our 
three  texts  taken  from  St.  John's  Gospel  (xxi.  15 — 
17 ;  n.  266),  St.  Peter  is  made  the  Shepherd  of  the 
sheep  and  Iambs  of  Christ,  and  in  this  appointment 


285)  THE  OFFICE  OF  SHEPHERD.  433 

we  cannot  but  see  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises 
recorded  by  St.  Matthew  (xvi.  18,  19) ;  it  is  the 
same  office  that  is  spoken  of  under  the  figures  of 
the  Foundation,  the  Bearer  of  the  Keys,  and  the 
Shepherd.  The  office  of  a  shepherd  includes  the 
work  of  feeding  the  sheep,  or  at  least  leading  them 
to  the  places  where  they  will  find  healthful  pasture ; 
to  keep  the  flock  together,  giving  it  unity  (St.  John 
x.  16) :  he  defends  the  flock  against  the  wolf  (St.  John 
x.  11,  12 ;  Acts  xx.  29) :  all  which  and  other  duties 
are  set  forth  in  the  34th  chapter  of  the  Book  of 
Ezechiel.  The  charge  entrusted  to  St.  Peter  is 
therefore  that  he  exercise  these  and  analogous 
functions  in  the  care  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  the 
members  of  His  Church.  The  distinction  of  sheep 
and  lambs,  for  both  of  which  St.  Peter  is  to  do  the 
work  of  shepherd,  emphasizes  the  extent  of  his 
jurisdiction.  We  say  that  the  whole  Church  is 
built  upon  Peter,  because  we  have  no  right  to 
introduce  distinctions  which  are  not  indicated  in 
the  text :  in  the  charge  to  be  a  shepherd  the  use 
of  the  two  words,  sheep  and  lambs,  expressly 
negatives  any  limitation  to  the  extent  of  the 
authority.  And  in  fact,  if  any  exception  were  to 
be  made,  it  would  extend  at  least  to  the  Apostles, 
who  were  then  present ;  yet  not  a  word  is  said 
indicating  that  they,  or  any  others,  were  exempted. 
This  doctrine  is  perfectly  consistent  with  what 
we  hold,  that  the  Apostles  had  by  Divine  appoint- 
ment a  universal  jurisdiction  in  the  Church,  such 
as  is  also  possessed  by  the  collective  episcopate  at 
the  present  day.  Each  Catholic  Bishop  exercises 


436  THE   PRIMACY.  [285 

the  pastoral  office  in  regard  to  the  faithful  of  his 
diocese,  and  each  of  the  Apostles  did  the  same  for 
all  the  world  :  but  they  did  so  in  dependence  upon 
St.  Peter,  and  this  dependence  was  none  the  less 
real,  although  they  had  individually  a  Divine 
guarantee  that  they  should  not  fall  away,  just  as 
the  collective  episcopate  is  indefectible.  Union 
with  Peter  was  the  condition  of  their  perseverance, 
and  they  were  assured  that  the  condition  would 
never  be  broken. 

286.  Papal  Primacy. — So  far  we  have  given  an 
outline  of  the  proof  from  Scripture  of  the  truth 
taught  and  declared  by  the  Vatican  Council  (Sess. 
4,  cap.  i ;  Denz.  1668)  that  "  according  to  the 
testimony  of  the  Gospel,  a  primacy  of  jurisdiction 
over  the  whole  Church  was  promised  immediately 
and  directly  to  the  Blessed  Peter  the  Apostle,  and 
was  conferred  upon  him."  We  now  go  on  to  show 
the  truth  of  what  is  taught  by  the  same  Council  in 
the  same  Session  (Sess.  4,  cap.  2 ;  Denz.  1670)  that 
"what  the  Chief  Pastor  and  great  Shepherd  of 
the  sheep,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  instituted  in 
the  person  of  Blessed  Peter  the  Apostle,  for  the 
perpetual  welfare  and  lasting  good  of  the  Church, 
this  must,  by  the  institution  of  Christ,  last  for  ever 
in  the  Church  which,  being  founded  upon  a  rock, 
shall  remain  ever  firm  to  the  end  of  the  world:" 
and  again  in  the  Canon  :  "  If  any  one  say  that  it  is 
not  by  the  institution  of  Christ  our  Lord  Himself, 
that  is  by  Divine  right,  that  Blessed  Peter  has  an 
unbroken  line  of  successors  in  the  Primacy  over 
the  whole  Church,  or  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  is 


i86]  PAPAL  PRIMACY.  437 

not  the  successor  of  Blessed  Peter  in  the  same 
Primacy,  let  him  be  anathema."  (Denz.  1671.)  The 
doctrine  here  expressed  merely  taught  with  a  little 
more  fulness  what  was  already  an  article  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  for  the  Council  of  Florence,  in  1439, 
defined  that  Blessed  Peter  received  from  Christ 
full  power  of  feeding,  ruling,  and  governing  the 
Universal  Church.  (Denz.  589.) 

That  the  Primacy  was  to  be  as  lasting  as  the 
Church  itself  follows  from  the  terms  in  which  it 
is  spoken  of  in  the  Gospel,  for  the  need  of  the 
foundation  to  a  house  and  of  a  shepherd  to  the 
flock  is  no  temporary  need,  but  will  continue  and 
be  pressing  as  long  as  the  house  is  to  stand,  or 
the  flock  is  to  be  kept  together.  And  if  this  be 
granted,  it  will  not  be  denied  that  the  Roman 
Pontiff  is  the  Primate.  There  is  no  one  else  on 
whose  behalf  the  claim  is  made,  whereas  from  the 
earliest  days  the  claim  was  made  practical!}'  by 
the  successive  Popes,  and  no  rival  ever  presenied 
himself.  The  action  of  the  Pope  in  the  Church, 
as  already  described  (nn.  262 — 267)  is  absolutely 
unique :  there  is  no  pretence  for  ascribing  the 
like  action  to  any  other  Bishop.  When  difficult 
questions  arise  in  any  part  of  the  Church,  the 
decisions  of  the  Popes  are  sought,  and  that  for  the 
sake  of  their  office,  and  not  on  account  of  eminent 
personal  attainments,  such  as  led  to  similar 
inquiries  being  addressed  to  individuals  of  great 
reputation,  as  St.  Basil  and  St.  Augustine.  The 
causes  of  Bishops  and  others,  from  the  East  as 
well  as  from  all  the  West,  were  brought  before  the 


438  THE  PRIMACY. 


Papal  tribunal,  and  there  judged  with  authority, 
and  all  who  fell  under  suspicion  were  anxious  to 
clear  themselves  at  Rome,  and  no  cause  was 
hopeless  until  it  had  been  rejected  at  Rome.  The 
history  of  the  Church  is  filled  with  illustrations  of 
what  has  just  been  said  :  the  proof  is  cumulative, 
and  to  adduce  one  or  two  particular  instances 
would  merely  weaken  it  ;  the  details  will  be  found 
in  abundance  in  the  Formation  of  Christendom  by 
Mr.  Allies,  in  Bottalla's  The  Pope  and  the  Church,  and 
countless  other  books. 

The  difficulties  that  are  brought  against  the 
doctrine  of  the  Primacy  are  partly  founded  on  cases 
like  that  of  Firmilian,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken  (nn.  269,  272)  ;  but  they  are  often  of  a 
negative  character  :  it  is  said  that  there  is  no 
ancient  authority  to  show  that  the  Popes  exercised 
such  or  such  a  prerogative.  The  answer  is,  the 
imperfection  of  history  :  we  do  not  know  all  that 
has  been  done  in  the  Church,  and  for  early  times 
we  have  nothing  but  a  scrap  here  and  a  chance 
fragment  there.  How  true  this  is  will  be  best 
appreciated  by  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  Reliquicc 
Antiques  of  Dr.  Routh  ;  he  will  see  the  patchwork  of 
which  the  earliest  history  is  made  up.  But  there  is 
no  doubt  that  in  earlier  times  the  Popes  left  much 
business  in  the  hands  of  the  Bishops  and  other  local 
authorities  which  afterwards  in  more  peaceful  days 
they  reserved  to  themselves  :  the  moderation  of  a 
Superior  in  the  use  of  his  authority  affords  but 
a  weak  ground  for  showing  that  this  authority  is  not 
claimed  by  him  and  acknowledged  to  be  his. 


UNIVERSAL  StSHOP.  439 


287.  The  Universal  Bishop.  —  A  difficulty  of  a 
positive  nature  is  raised  by  certain  passages  in  the 
works  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  where  he  repudiates 
the  title  of  Universal  Bishop,  which  would  seem  to 
be  due  to  the  Pope  in  virtue  of  the  Primacy.  It  is 
true  that  according  to  the  doctrine  which  has  been 
set  out  and  proved,  no  member  of  the  Church  is 
left  without  the  pastoral  care  of  Peter  and  his 
successors,  or  exempt  from  their  authority.  And 
yet  this  care  and  this  authority  cannot  be  dis- 
tinguished from  that  which  each  individual  Bishop 
has  in  his  diocese,  and  so  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
the  Pope  claims  to  have  direct  and  immediate  epis- 
copal authority  in  the  whole  of  the  Church  :  there 
is  no  person,  no  place,  to  which  his  care  and  authority 
does  not  extend  :  it  is  not  clear  therefore  why 
the  Pope  should  not  allow  himself  to  be  called,  and 
call  himself,  the  Universal  Bishop.  This  title  had 
been  given  by  the  General  Council  of  Chalcedon  to 
Pope  St.  Leo  the  Great,  and  this  Pope  had  called 
himself  Bishop  of  the  Roman  and  Universal  Church: 
yet  St.  Gregory  calls  the  title  a  profane  novelty, 
which  had  never  been  taken  by  his  predecessors. 
The  explanation  is  that  the  title  Universal  Bishop 
admits  of  two  senses  :  it  may  mean  sole  Bishop,  or 
it  may  mean  that  the  holder  has  the  episcopal  care 
extending  to  all  the  Church,  but  not  so  as  to 
exclude  the  authority  of  each  Bishop  in  his  diocese. 
St.  Gregory  was  moved  by  learning  that  the  title 
had  been  taken  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
John,  surnamed  the  Faster,  and  as  the  Pope  con- 
ceived, in  the  former  sense.  Whether  he  was 
correct  or  not,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  view  he  took, 


440  THE  PRIMACY. 


for  he  again  and  again  speaks  of  John  as  wishing 
to  be  called  sole  Bishop.  (Epist.  5,  18,  to  John  of 
Constantinople;  P.L.  77,  738,  and  Epist.  5,  71,  Ad 
Constantianam;  P.L.  77,  749.)  It  was  therefore  in 
this  sense  that  St.  Gregory  rejected  the  title  with 
indignation,  preferring  to  be  called,  Servant  of  the 
Servants  of  God.  (St.  Gregory  to  the  citizens  of 
Rome,  Epist.  13,  i  ;  P.L.  77,  1253.)  There  was 
no  sense  in  which  the  title  could  belong  to  John, 
but  in  the  second  sense  that  we  have  explained  the 
power  expressed  by  it  was  claimed  and  exercised  by 
St.  Gregory  ;  it  is  enough  to  quote  his  distinct 
assertion  that  what  was  undoubtedly  the  second 
See  of  the  world  in  influence,  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantinople, was  subject  to  the  Apostolic  See. 
(Epist.  9,  12,  to  John  of  Syracuse;  P.L.  77,  957); 
and  in  another  place  he  asks,  What  Bishop  is  not 
subject  to  it  ?  (Epist.  9,  59,  to  the  same  ;  P.L.  77, 
996.)  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  in  declining  the 
ambiguous  title  St.  Gregory  did  not  mean  to  disclaim 
the  authority  which,  rightly  understood,  it  implied. 

288.  Recapitulation.  —  We  can  say  no  more  on 
this  immense  and  much  controverted  subject.  It 
must  suffice  that  we  have  shown  the  advantage  that 
must  arise  to  the  Church  from  the  possession  of 
a  personal  centre  of  unity  :  that  the  three  famous 
texts  discussed  in  the  last  chapter  prove  that 
St.  Peter  was  constituted  by  Christ  to  be  centre, 
and  govern  the  whole  Church  ;  that  this  power  has 
passed  to  his  successors,  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  by 
whom  it  has  been  exercised  :  who  are  not  sole 
Bishops,  although  they  have  by  Divine  right  the 
immediate  episcopal  charge  over  the  whole  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INFALLIBILITY. 

289.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — It  will  be  convenient 
to  begin  this  chapter  by  setting  forth  and  explaining 
the  decree  adopted  by  the  Council  of  the  Vatican 
by  which  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope,  which  might 
previously  have   been  denied  without  the  guilt  of 
heresy,    became   an   article   of  the    Catholic   faith. 
We  shall  then  show  how  the  doctrine  is  contained 
in  Scripture,  and  indicate  very  briefly  the  nature  of 
the -proof  of  the  same  from  tradition:  after  which 
the  difficulties  that  have  been  brought  against  the 
doctrine  will  be  dealt  with. 

290.  Infallibility   defined. — In   the    Acts    of   the 
Council    of    the   Vatican,   held    in    1870    (Sess.   4, 
cap.    4),    we    find    the    following:    "The    Roman 
Pontiff,  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  that  is  to  say, 
when   in  the  exercise  of  his  office   of  pastor  and 
teacher  of  all  Christians  he  in  virtue  of  his  supreme 
Apostolic  authority  defines  that  a  doctrine  on  faith 
and  morals  is  to  be  held  by  the  whole  Church,  by 
the  assistance  of  God  promised  to  him  in  the  person 
of  Blessed   Peter,  has  that  infallibility  with  which 
it  was  the  will  of  our   Divine   Redeemer  that   His 
Church  should  be  furnished  in  defining  a  doctrine 


442  INFALLIBILITY.  [290 

on  faith  or  morals,  and  that  therefore  these  defini- 
tions of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  of  themselves  and  not 
through  the  consent  of  the  Church,  are  irreform- 
able." 

The  assembly  which  adopted  this  decree  is 
recognized  as  a  General  Council  by  the  whole 
Church  (see  n.  209),  and  the  decree  itself  is  accepted 
as  conclusive  by  the  whole  Church.  (See  n.  208.)  It 
follows  that  the  decree  comes  to  us  with  the  autho- 
rity of  the  infallible  Church,  and  cannot  be  questioned 
without  forfeiture  of  the  name  of  Catholic.  This 
decree,  together  with  the  decrees  concerning  the 
Primacy,  which  come  to  us  on  the  same  authority, 
put  an  end  to  a  controversy  which  had  been  freely 
agitated  in  Catholic  schools,  and  which,  as  so  often 
happens  (n.  113),  had  cleared  up  ambiguities  and 
ended  by  establishing  the  truth  on  a  firm  basis, 
never  to  be  shaken.  The  spirit  of  nationalism,  how- 
ever good  within  its  own  province,  has  always  been 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  Catholicity ;  and  it  has 
repeatedly  happened  that  kings  who  boasted  that 
they  were  true  sons  of  the  Church,  have  striven  to 
use  her  power  as  an  instrument  for  the  attainment 
of  their  own  ends,  and  have  undertaken  to  regulate 
spiritual  matters  directly  by  their  own  authority 
or  through  the  agency  of  subservient  ecclesiastics 
whom  they  have  raised  to  positions  of  wealth  and 
influence.  In  these  cases,  the  authority  of  the 
Popes  has  been  the  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
the  temporal  ruler,  and  has  been  the  means  used  by 
Divine  Providence  to  hinder  the  Church  from  becom- 
ing merely  a  part  of  the  machinery  used  by  the 


ago]  INFALLIBILITY  DEFINED.  443 

State  for  its  own  ends,  as  happens  in  countries 
which  have  shaken  off  obedience  to  Rome.  The 
struggles  of  the  Popes  with  the  Byzantine  Emperors 
and  with  the  successors  of  Charlemagne  fill  a  large 
place  in  Church  history :  and  the  only  too  success- 
ful efforts  of  the  Kings  of  France  to  extort  practical 
independence  of  Rome  were  continued  down  to  the 
time  when  the  Revolution  of  1789  swept  away  all 
existing  institutions,  (n.  304.)  It  was  in  France 
that  it  was  first  found  convenient  to  devise  a  theolo- 
gical basis  for  pretensions  which  had  previously 
been  put  forward  chiefly  on  practical  grounds,  and 
after  the  Great  Schism  (1377 — 1417,  n.  218)  a 
school  arose,  known  from  the  country  of  its  origin 
as  the  Gallican,  which  maintained  that  the  Pope 
received  his  authority  from  the  Church,  and  which 
consistently  went  on  to  hold  that  dogmatic  decrees 
issued  by  the  Pope  were  not  infallible  in  themselves, 
but  only  in  virtue  of  their  acceptance  by  the  Church. 
Attention  being  called  to  the  subject,  the  matter 
was  studied,  and  the  theologians  of  Italy,  and  of 
Rome  itself,  were  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Papal  Primacy  was  of  Divine  institution,  and  that 
the  Pope  was  in  virtue  of  his  office  infallible.  These 
views  were  dubbed  by  the  French  divines  as  Ultra- 
montane, while  the  name  Cisalpine  was  applied  to 
the  doctrines  that  prevailed  on  the  north  of  the 
Alps.  The  controversy  was  far-reaching,  touching 
principles  that  are  at  the  very  foundation  of  the 
relations  between  God  and  man,  and  it  had  the 
happy  result  of  leading  to  a  deep  and  critical  study 
of  history,  which  cannot  but  bring  out  the  truth 


INFALLIBILITY.  [age 


more  clearly.  No  Gallican  ever  doubted  that  the 
voice  of  the  Catholic  episcopate,  even  when  dis- 
persed, was  the  infallible  voice  of  the  Church:  nor 
that  communion  with  Rome  was  the  necessary  con- 
dition of  the  right  to  the  character  of  a  Catholic 
Bishop.  It  follows  that  on  Gallican  principles  the 
doctrine  on  the  Papal  Primacy  and  Infallibility 
asserted  at  the  Vatican  Council  is  infallibly  defined 
as  an  article  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  decree  speaks  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  not  merely  of  the  See  of  Rome : 
of  the  living  man,  not  of  the  voiceless  entity.  It 
explains  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  ex  cathedra  with 
a  plainness  that  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired :  an 
ex-cathedral  utterance  is  an  act  of  teaching,  not  an 
act  of  government,  still  less  of  personal  conduct : 
and  it  does  not  include  every  act  of  teaching  by  the 
Pope,  but  only  those  where  he  teaches  the  whole 
Church,  on  a  point  of  faith  or  morals,  and  this  in 
the  exercise  of  his  supreme  Apostolic  authority. 
Whether  any  particular  utterance  fulfils  these  con- 
ditions is  a  point  on  which  ordinarily  there  is  no 
room  for  doubt :  and  if  ever  any  difficulty  arises,  it 
is  solved  by  a  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances 
from  which  the  intention  of  the  Pontiff  can  be 
gathered  :  and  if,  as  is  conceivably  possible,  the 
doubt  remain,  then  the  utterance  is  not  known  to 
be  infallibly  binding.  The  difficulty  here  glanced  at 
is  of  no  more  practical  import  than  are  the  doubts 
felt  by  English  constitutional  lawyers  whether  certain 
official  utterances  of  the  King  are  or  are  not  to  bo 
classed  as  Acts  of  Parliament.  (See  Stubbs,  Constii. 


2go]  INFALLIBILITY  DEFINED.  445 

History,  2,  224.)  The  decree  teaches  us  that  the 
extent  of  Papal  Infallibility  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Church,  (n.  209.)  Infallibility  is  not  secured  by 
any  system  of  Divine  inspiration,  for  the  Papal 
decrees  have  the  Pope  for  their  author,  whereas  the 
Author  of  the  inspired  Scriptures  is  God  Himself, 
(n.  136.)  Neither  is  the  Pope  infallible  by  virtue  of 
Divine  revelations  made  to  him :  such  revelations, 
were  they  given,  would  be  no  more  than  private 
revelations  (n.  22),  and  therefore  not  binding  upon 
the  Church.  The  Pope  does  not  attain  to  his  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  without  the  use  of  ordinary 
means;  prayer,  study,  consultation,  and  the  like, 
along  with  which  goes  a  peculiar  enlightenment 
from  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  to  him  on  account  of 
his  office ;  the  Vatican  definition  assures  us  that  he 
will  not  utter  an  ex-cathedral  decree  until  his  dili- 
gent and  enlightened  use  of  these  means  has  resulted 
in  his  coming  to  a  correct  conclusion  on  the  point 
before  him. 

There  are  some  persons  who  think  that  they 
can  learn  Catholic  doctrine  by  studying  an  English 
dictionary,  and  these  observe  that  the  word  infallible 
is  connected  with  failure  and  with/0//;  hence  they 
conclude  that  according  to  our  doctrine  no  Pope 
ever  fails  in  prudence  or  falls  into  sin.  These  are 
quite  mistaken.  The  infallible  character  belongs  to 
ex-cathedral  utterances,  in  the  sense  explained.  It 
has  nothing  to  do  with  prudence  in  conduct,  though 
we  believe  that  the  Church  has  been  secured  from 
destruction  by  the  more  than  human  prudence  that 
has  guided  her  governors ;  neither  has  it  nything 


446  INFALLIBILITY.  [age 

to  do -with  the  moral  character  of  the  Pope,  for 
lessons  of  sanctity  may  come  from  the  mouth  of  a 
wicked  man  (St.  Matt,  xxiii.  3) ;  and  even  if  there 
be  any  truth  at  the  bottom  of  the  grossly  exaggerated 
stories  that  are  current  concerning  the  private  lives 
of  some  of  the  Popes,  we  are  merely  led  to  recognize 
the  Divine  guidance  which  has  hindered  these  men 
from  teaching  ex  cathedra  the  bad  principles  which 
are  supposed  to  have  shaped  their  personal  conduct. 
291.  Proofs  of  Infallibility. — The  argument  by 
which  we  have  shown  that  the  three  great  Petrine 
passages  (nn.  282 — 285)  prove  that  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  have  by  Divine  right  a  Primacy  of  jurisdiction 
over  the  Church,  applies  also  to  establish  their 
Infallibility,  so  that  little  need  be  said  on  this  head. 
It  is  enough  to  point  out  that  the  passage  from 
St.  Luke  (xxii.  31,  32)  is  conclusive  on  this  head. 
St.  Peter  is  to  confirm  his  brethren,  and  the  prayer 
of  Christ,  that  shall  not  fail  of  effect,  has  been 
offered  that  his  own  faith  fail  not.  He  is,  therefore, 
to  confirm  his  brethren,  that  is,  the  Apostles  and 
the  whole  Church,  in  their  faith,  and  is  furnished 
with  the  necessary  means  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  work :  he  that  is  to  teach  must  first  know. 
Further,  the  office  of  shepherd  committed  to  St. Peter 
over  the  sheep  and  lambs  of  Christ  (St.  John  xxi. 
15 — 17),  includes  the  work  of  feeding :  and  in  the 
language  of  Scripture,  the  food  is  the  doctrine 
revealed  by  God  (i  Cor.  iii.  2 ;  I  St.  Peter  ii.  2, 
v.  2) ;  the  action  of  St.  Peter  will  therefore  be  liable 
to  lead  the  sheep  to  poisonous  pastures,  to  theii 
ruin,  unless  the  Chief  Shepherd  provides,  as  He 


2Qi]  PROOFS  OF  INFALLIBILITY.  447 

can,  that  His  Vicar  shall  not  be  deceived.  What  is 
here  said  of  St.  Peter  applies  to  his  successors  for 
the  same  reasons  as  prove  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Primacy,  (n.  286.)  All  members  of  the  Church, 
therefore,  at  all  times  are  by  Divine  appointment 
under  the  care  of  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  and 
bound  to  accept  the  lessons  of  faith  that  he  teaches 
them,  just  as  they  are  bound  to  hear  the  Church; 
and  as  God  could  not  impose  on  them  a  duty  to 
accept  error,  the  faith  that  he  teaches  must  be  the 
truth. 

As  to  the  proof  of  the  Papal  Infallibility  from 
tradition,  it  is  so  full  that  it  is  impossible  to  set  it 
forth  in  a  short  compass.  It  is  not  found  so  much 
in  express  declarations:  there  was  no  need  to 
declare  formally  that  which  everybody  knew  and 
accepted  as  a  matter  of  course :  but  we  have  casual 
allusions,  such  as  when  St.  Leo  remarks  in  passing 
that  the  faith  of  Peter  fails  not  even  in  his  unworthy 
heir.  (St.  Leo,  Serm.  3 ;  P.L.  54,  147.)  But  the 
doctrine  is  taught  practically,  when  the  Pope  decides 
unhesitatingly  and  with  a  tone  of  authority,  the 
questions  on  points  of  faith  which  were  referred  to 
him  from  all  parts  of  the  Church ;  the  cases  will  be 
found  in  profusion  in  Bottalla  on  the  Infallibility, 
and  every  book  on  the  subject.  This  practical 
teaching  is  more  conclusive  than  any  express  state- 
ments, for  its  meaning  is  less  open  to  question  ; 
and  we  must  especially  notice  its  negative  side. 
There  is  absolutely  no  trace  of  an  appeal  from  the 
Papal  decision  on  a  matter  of  faith  to  any  higher 
tribunal :  appeals  from  the  Pope  to  a  future  General 


448  INFALLIBILITY.  [291 

Council  are  sometimes  heard  of,  especially  in  times 
of  schism,  and  they  were  forbidden  by  Pope  Pius  II., 
in  1459,  expressly  on  the  ground  of  the  supreme 
and  full  power  that  he  had  received  as  heir  of  Peter 
(Constit.  Execrabilis) :  but  these  appeals  concerned 
discipline,  not  doctrine. 

We  may  notice  a  passage  of  St.  Thomas  which 
shows  how  undoubtingly  the  doctrine  of  the  Infalli- 
bility was  held  and  tacitly  assumed  as  admitted  by 
this  great  theologian  of  the  thirteenth  century :  he 
lived  shortly  before  the  rise  of  the  Gallican  school. 
He  discusses  (Summ.  TheoL  2.  2.  q.  i.  art.  10.)  the 
question  whether  it  belongs  to  the  Supreme  Pontiff 
to  draw  up  Creeds;  and  he  answers  in  the  affir- 
mative, for  this  work  must  fall  to  him  who  has 
authority  to  determine  what  is  of  faith,  to  be  held 
with  unswerving  faith  by  all.  And  this  belongs  to 
the  Pontiff,  to  whom  all  greater  and  more  difficult 
questions  in  the  Church  are  referred.  The  text 
from  St.  Luke  on  confirming  the  brethren  (xxii.  32) 
is  then  quoted,  and  it  is  pointed  out  that  unless  he 
that  presides  over  the  whole  Church  were  able  to 
decide  questions  of  faith,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
avoid  the  divisions  which  the  Apostle  deprecates, 
(i  Cor.  i.  10.) 

292.  Objections. — The  arguments  against  Papal 
Infallibility  employed  by  the  Gallican  school,  and 
which  have  been  eagerly  borrowed  from  them  by 
later  theologians,  in  and  out  of  the  Church,  were 
not  so  much  theological  as  historical :  and  the  theo- 
logian, dealing  with  this  matter,  is  forced  to  follow 
them,  and  leaving  his  proper  subject  to  consider 


192]  OBJECTIONS.  449 

what  are  the  teachings  of  history.  He  enters  on 
this  inquiry  with  full  assurance  what  the  result  will 
be,  if  it  is  properly  conducted,  for  truth  cannot  be 
opposed  to  truth  t  but  aware  of  the  imperfection  of 
the  historical  record,  he  is  not  unprepared  to  be 
confronted  with  difficulties,  the.  full  elucidation  of 
which  is  impossible  with  our  present  materials; 
and  he  is  content  to  repel  the  attacks  made  upon 
the  doctrine  which  he  has  established  on  quite  other 
than  historical  grounds,  and  does  not  expect  to  find 
proof  of  the  truth  of  his  belief  in  every  passage  of 
history  which  his  opponents  have  selected  as  tending 
to  support  their  view. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  place  to  enter  on  historical 
controversy,  which  necessarily  runs  to  great  length, 
involving  the  transcription,  comparison,  and  critical 
discussion  of  the  original  documents.  Fortunately, 
it  is  often  possible  to  show  from  the  facts  admitted 
by  all,  that  on  the  face  of  these  facts,  the  objection 
is  groundless.  The  objector  often  tries  to  produce 
instances  where  Popes  have  taught  heresy  ex  cathedra, 
and  if  he  succeeded  in  one  instance  in  proving  his 
point,  our  doctrine  would,  we  confess,  be  untenable : 
but  in  every  case  it  will  be  found  on  examination 
either  that  the  teaching  is  not  shown  to  have  been 
ex-cathedral,  or  that  it  cannot  be  proved  to  have 
been  heretical.  We  can  here'  do  no  more  than 
mention  the  principal  instances  that  are  brought 
up,  and  indicate  very  briefly  the  lines  on  which 
a  defence  may  be  made. 

I.  Some  think  that  the  fall  of  St.  Peter  is  in 
some  way  a  proof  that  the  Pope  is  not  infallible. 

DD  VOL.  T. 


I50  INFALLIBILITY.  [292 

But  the  answer  is  plain :  St.  Peter  had  not  at  the 
time  of  his  fall  received  his  commission  to  feed  the 
flock  of  Christ,  and  therefore  he  was  not  Pope ;  and 
perhaps  the  words  "  being  converted  "  point  to  the 
time  when  his  work  was  to  commence :  besides 
which,  when  he  told  the  doorkeeper  that  he  did  not 
know  the  Man,  he  certainly  was  not  uttering  a 
dogmatic  statement,  intended  to  teach  the  whole 
Church :  he  was  only  showing  his  own  private 
weakness. 

II.  St.  Peter    submitted    his    doctrine    to    the 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  and  St.  Leo  in  the  same  way 
submitted    his  doctrine  on  the    Incarnation  to   be 
discussed  by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.     But  there 
is  a  use  in  the  investigation  of  the  grounds  of  a 
doctrine,  even  when  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  what 
the  result  of  the  investigation  will  be :  the  examina- 
tion makes  the  truth  appear  more  clearly. 

III.  Pope  St.  Stephen  was  opposed  by  St.  Cyprian ; 
but  most  certainly  St.  Stephen   never  defined   any 
heretical  doctrine :  the  error,  whatever  it  may  have 
been,  was  not  on  his  side. 

IV.  Pope   Liberius  subscribed  an  heretical  for- 
mula.    But,  even  if  we  accept  the  truth  of  all  that 
is  said  against  him,  he  did  no  more  than  accept  a 
formula  of  faith  on  the  Blessed  Trinity,  in  which 
there  was  nothing  positively  heretical,  although  the 
omission    from    it   of    the   word    "consubstantial," 
which  was  the  badge  of  the  Catholics  against  the 
Arians,   was   taken    as   a   mark   of    favour   to   the 
enemies  of  the  Nicene  faith.     And  at  the  worst,  he 
did  this  when  not  free,  but  in  a  state  of  banishment 


292]  OBJECTIONS.  451 

from  his  see,  and  there  is  no  pretence  for  saying 
that  he  taught  Arian  doctrine  ex  cathedra. 

V.  Pope    Honorius    was    anathematized    as    a 
heretic  by  the  Fourth  General  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople.    Not  as  a  heretic,  in  the  proper  sense,  but 
as  having  negligently  permitted  the  spread  of  heresy, 
and  so  being  involved  in  the  same  condemnation 
as  the  actual  heretics.     Honorius  wrote  a  letter  to 
Sergius,  the    Monothelite    Patriarch  -of    Constanti- 
nople, in  which,  as  the  event  proved,  he  did  not 
make  a  sufficiently  firm  protest  against  the  heresy : 
but  it  cannot  be  shown  that  the  letter  itself  con- 
tained   heresy ;    and   even   were   it   otherwise,   the 
letter  was  a  purely  private  document,  and  neither 
in  form  nor  in  substance  or  in  mode  of  issue  showed 
any  trace  of  being  intended  for  the  instruction  of 
the  Universal  Church. 

VI.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  Popes  owed 
their  power  to  a  forgery,  the  False  Decretals.     This 
work   became    known   early  in  the   ninth   century, 
and  purported  to  be  a  collection,  put  together  by 
one  Isidore,  of  decretal  letters  of  Popes,  such  as 
make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  body  of  the  Canon 
Law.     The  general  tendency  of  these  decretals  is 
to    represent   the    Pope   as   supreme   governor,    to 
whom  appeals  may  be  brought  by  Bishops  and  the 
inferior  clergy  who  are  aggrieved  by  the  action  of 
the  metropolitans.     The  decretals  are  attributed  to 
Popes  who  reigned  in  the  very  earliest  days  of  the 
Church,  and  in  form  they  are  undoubted  forgeries, 
for  they  were  certainly  put  into  shape  abcut  the 
time  when  they  became  known.     But  in  substance 


INFALLIBILITY.  [292 


they  were  old,  though  not  so  old  as  they  pretended 
to  be  ;  and  the  proof  is  easy,  for  the  authors  who 
have  demonstrated  the  forgery  in  form  do  so  by 
showing  that  the  utterances  attributed  to  the  early 
Popes  are  not  theirs,  but  are  found  in  the  genuine 
works  of  Popes  of  the  fourth  and  following  centuries, 
so  that  they  were  old  in  the  days  of  Isidore.  Besides 
this,  our  proofs  of  the  Primacy  and  Infallibility  are 
drawn  from  Scripture  and  early  tradition,  and  not 
from  the  False  Decretals  :  and  we  have  seen  (n.  291) 
St.  Thomas  rests  his  doctrine  as  to  the  position  and 
authority  of  the  Popes,  not  on  any  forgery,  but  on 
the  Sacred  Scripture. 

VII.  In  the  case  of  Galileo,  the  Holy  See  con- 
demned as  heretical  and  opposed  to  Scripture  an 
astronomical  doctrine  which  is  now  universally 
accepted.  On  this  much  debated  question,  it  may 
safely  be  said  that  no  man  can  prove  that  the  note 
of  heresy  was  attached  by  the  Pope  himself  to  the 
physical  doctrine.  The  proof  of  this  would  require 
it  to  be  shown  that  the  Pope  acted  personally,  for 
the  gift  of  Infallibility  cannot  be  delegated  to  any 
other  person  :  that  he  acted  with  the  intention  of 
exercising  his  supreme  apostolic  authority  to  teach 
the  Church  :  and,  lastly  and  most  especially,  that 
the  purpose  of  the  decree  was  to  condemn  the 
doctrine  and  not  merely  to  prohibit  the  books  con- 
taining it.  A  doctrinal  utterance  is  not  proved  to 
be  ex-cathedral  by  its  occurrence  among  the  motives 
for  a  disciplinary  decree  :  and  this  appears  to  have 
been  the  case  with  the  decree  against  Galileo,  which 
therefore  does  not  conflict  with  our  doctrine.  The 


2Q2]  OBJECTIONS.  453 

action  of  the  Holy  See  on  this  matter  may  be 
defended  on  higher  ground  than  what  is  here 
taken  ;  but  what  has  been  said  suffices  to  show  that 
nothing  that  was  done  in  the  case  is  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrine  of  Papal  Infallibility.  The  remain- 
ing cases  of  alleged  ex-cathedral  errors  are  of  minor 
importance. 

293.  Recapitulation. — Our  chief  work  in  this 
chapter  has  been  to  explain  what  is  the  true 
doctrine  denned  by  the  Vatican  Council  on  the 
personal  Infallibility  of  the  Pope.  When  this  is 
understood,  there  is  not  much  difficulty  in  giving 
the  proof  of  the  doctrine  from  Scripture,  while  the 
proof  from  tradition  is  too  bulky  for  these  pages. 
The  chief  historical  difficulties  against  the  doctrine 
are  shortly  answered  at  the  close  of  the  chapter. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   POPE   AND   THE    BISHOPS. 

294.  Subject  of  Chapter. — We  have  seen  that  in 
accordance  with  the  decrees  of  the  Vatican  Council 
(n.  286),  the  Pope  enjoys  by  Divine  right  a  primacy 
of  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  Church,  which  juris- 
diction   is   imm  >diate   over   every   member   of    the 
Church,  and  therefore  over  the  Bishops  among  the 
rest.     There  is  therefore  no  longer  any  room   for 
controversy  on  certain  questions  which   in  former 
times  were  warmly  discussed,  as  to  the  relation  of 
the  Pope  to  a  gathering  of  Bishops,  especially  if  the 
gathering  were  such  as  to  be  morally  representative 
of  the  whole  Catholic  world.     Nevertheless,  it  will 
be  well  to  devote  a  few  pages  to  a  short  explanation 
of  the  doctrine  and   practice  of  the  Church  as  to 
Co  incils,  that  the  Divine  rights  of  the  Pope  and  the 
no  less  Divine  right  of  the  Episcopacy  may  be  seen 
more  clearly. 

295.  Episcopal    Government.  —  We     have    seen 
(n.    200)    that   by  the   Divine   constitution   of   the 
Church,  there  is  in  it  a  distinction  of  Teachers  and 
Taught,  Governors  and   Governed ;    and   that  the 
teaching  and  governing  body  is  constituted  by  the 
Episcopate  (n.  208),  under  the  primacy  of  the  Pope 
(n.  285.)  Catholic  Bishops,  therefore,  who  are  known 


^95]  EPISCOPAL  GOVESNMEm.  455 

by  their  communion  with  the  Holy  See,  have  autho- 
rity to  teach,  and  from  the  assured  perennity  of  the 
Church  (n.  166),  we  know  that  this  teaching  body 
will  never  wholly  fail ;  individual  Bishops  may  lapse 
into  heresy,  as  we  know  to  have  happened  from 
time  to  time,  but  the  body  at  large  will  never  lapse. 
Should  such  a  lapse  of  the  whole  occur,  the  whole 
Church,  which  is  bound  to  obey  the  teaching  autho- 
rity, would  be  led  into  error  and  ruined,  which  is 
impossible.  This  is  the  same  theological  argument 
as  was  employed  (n.  291!  to  show  how  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  Pope  followed  fnm  his  right  to  teach  ; 
and  we  may  observe  that  even  in  the  case  of  the 
Pope  himself,  there  is  no  absolute  certainty  that 
he  will  never  personally  fall  into  heresy :  we  know 
that  he  can  never  teach  heresy  ex  cathedra,  and  most 
theologians  believe  with  Suarez  that  he  never  will 
fall  from  the  faith :  but  their  arguments  do  not 
command  universal  assent,  and  so  it  is  well  to 
remark  that  such  a  fall,  disastrous  as  it  would  be, 
would  not  be  of  itself  destructive  to  the  Church ; 
for  if  the  lapse  were  private,  the  Church  at  large 
would  be  unaffecte  1 ;  but  if  it  became  notorious, 
then,  it  is  held,  the  person  would  cease  to  be  Pope, 
and  the  Holy  See  would  be  vacant :  but  the  main- 
tainers  of  the  doctrine  that  such  a  fall  is  possible 
admit  the  difficulty  of  explaining  how  the  fact  of 
the  vacancy  could  be  authentically  ascertained. 

Not  only  does  this  power  belong  to  the  whole 
Catholic  episcopate,  but  each  member  of  it  has 
suthority  to  teach  and  govern  the  faithful  committed 
to  him  ;  exercising  his  office  in  subordination  to  the 


456  THE  POPE  AND  THE  BISHOPS. 

supreme  Pastor,  the  Roman  Pontiff.  The  teaching 
of  the  Bishop  must  of  course  not  be  contrary  to 
the  faith  of  the  Universal  Church,  and  therefore  is 
not  irreformable,  as  is  that  of  the  Pope :  and  in  like 
manner,  the  legislation  of  the  Bishop  must  not  be 
in  opposition  to  the  legislation  which  binds  the 
Universal  Church,  over  which  the  Pope  alone  has 
power. 

296.  Councils. — From  the  days  of  the  Apostles 
downwards  (Acts  xv.)  it  has  been  the  practice  of  the 
Pastors  of  the  Church  from  time  to  time,  to  meet 
together  in  smaller  or  larger  numbers  to  deliberate 
on  matters  of  common  ecclesiastical  interest ;  and  to 
these  assemblies  the  name  of  Council  or  Synod  has 
been  appropriated.  These  Councils  vary  in  character, 
according  to  the  extent  of  the  territory  from  which 
the  members  are  drawn.  There  are  diocesan  Coun- 
cils, or  Synods,  consisting  of  the  clergy  of  a  single 
diocese,  under  their  Bishop :  Provincial  Synods  are 
attended  by  the  Bishops  of  an  ecclesiastical  province 
under  the  Metropolitan :  and  more  rarely  we  hear 
of  Plenary  Synods,  where  the  assembly  of  several 
provinces  exercises  jurisdiction  over  a  whole  nation. 
Thus  in  old  days  there  were  Plenary  Councils  of 
Africa ;  and  in  our  own  time,  Maynooth  and  Balti- 
more have  been  thus  honoured  by  the  Bishops  of 
Ireland  and  the  United  States.  All  these  meetings 
exercise  in  the  district  to  which  they  belong  the 
same  sort  of  authority  as  each  Bishop  enjoys  in  his 
own  diocese,  but  on  account  of  the  numbers  gathered 
together  they  naturally  have  great  moral  weight. 
Occasionally  their  declarations  on  matters  of  faith 


296]  COUNCILS.  457 

have  been  recognized  as  sound  and  useful,  and  so  we 
meet  with  Canons  of  Councils  of  Carthage  (n.  151) 
and  Toledo,  quoted  by  theologians  as  having  autho- 
rity. These  formal  Councils,  possessing  the  power 
of  government,  must  be  distinguished  from  informal 
assemblies,  such  as  are  often  held  by  the  Bishops 
of  neighbouring  dioceses,  when  they  wish  to  agree 
on  a  common  course  of  action ;  also  from  such 
gatherings  as  was  seen  in  Rome  in  1854,  when  a 
large  number  of  Bishops  chose  the  time  appointed 
for  the  definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  as 
the  season  for  one  of  their  periodical  visits  to  the 
Threshold  of  the  Apostles,  (n.  254.)  Also,  these 
purely  ecclesiastical  meetings  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  occasions  when,  in  England,  and 
probably  in  other  countries,  the  clergy  met  at  the 
instance  of  the  King,  for  the  purpose  of  taxation  or 
other  civil  duties.  (As  to  the  Convocation  as  distinct 
from  Councils,  see  Stubbs*  Constitutional  History, 
2,  194.) 

297.  Ecumenical  Councils. — The  word  ecumenical 
means  world-wide  (olKovp,ivrf),  so  that  an  Ecumenical 
Council  is  one  gathered  from  the  whole  of  the 
Church,  and  having  authority  over  the  whole.  The 
word  General  is  often  used  as  synonymous  with 
Ecumenical,  but  some  writers  make  a  distinction, 
employing  General  to  signify  a  Council  which 
embraces  the  whole  of  the  Greek-speaking  or  of 
the  Latin-speaking  Church.  We  shall  use  the  two 
words  indifferently. 

A  General  Council  is  of  a  totally  different  nature 
from  the  Councils  spoken  of  in  the  last  paragraph. 


458  THE  POrE  AND  THE  BISHOPS.  ^97 

It  represents  the  whole  body  of  the  episcopate,  and 
this,  as  we  saw,  cannot  fail  in  the  faith  (n.  295) ; 
but  theologians  are  not  agreed  whether  such  a 
Council  is  a  distinct  seat  of  infallibility,  or  whether 
the  Bishops  are  infallible  only  in  virtue  of  the  prero- 
gative of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  with  whom  they  are 
necessarily  united  ;  whichever  doctrine  be  held,  the 
practical  consequences  are  the  same. 

The  assembly  of  a  General  Council  is  never 
absolutely  necessary,  unless  we  except  the  possible 
case  of  an  ex-cathedral  utterance  being  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  to  check  some  grave  existing 
evil,  while  at  the  same  time  consultation  with  the 
assembled  Bishops  of  the  whole  Church  was  needed 
in  order  that  the  Pontiff  might  assure  himself  of 
the  truth  (see  n.  290),  and  for  securing  the  existence 
of  the  Church  ;  for  the  Papal  authority  is,  absolutely 
speaking,  sufficient  to  cope  with  all  difficulties, 
whether  they  touch  faith  or  morals,  heresy  or 
schism  :  the  Pontiff  can  teach  with  infallible  autho- 
rity what  men  are  bound  to  believe,  and  he  can 
make  such  laws  as  the  occasion  may  demand  ;  and 
no  Council  can  do  more,  for  the  free-wills  of  men 
are  not  constrained.  Occasions  may,  however,  arise 
when  the  advance  of  some  great  evil  cannot  be 
effectually  stayed  by  the  authority  of  the  Pope 
alone,  and  in  these  circumstances  it  is  in  a  sense 
necessary  for  him  to  seek  the  moral  support  of  the 
episcopate  assembled  in  Council;  but  these  occa- 
sions are  not  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  will 
probably  be  less  frequent  as  time  goes  on,  and 
exchange  of  sentiments  grows  easier  without  actual 


297]  ECUMENICAL   COUNCILS.  459 

meeting.  The  Church  had  existed  for  nearly  three 
centuries  before  the  first  General  Council  met  at 
Nice  in  325 :  and  more  than  that  period  elapsed 
between  the  close  of  the  Council  of  Trent  in  1563 
and  the  opening  of  the  Council  of  the  Vatican  in 
1869. 

The  right  to  convoke  a  General  Council  belongs 
to  the  Roman  Pontiff  alone,  for  he  alone  has  juris- 
diction over  the  whole  Church,  entitling  him  to  call 
on  all  Bishops  to  meet  together.  If  a  number  of 
Bishops  come  together  without  the  Papal  summons 
or  consent,  they  do  not  constitute  a  General  Council ; 
but  their  proceedings  may  subsequently  attain  to 
that  authority,  if  they  receive  the  ratification  of  the 
Holy  See.  This  was  perhaps  actually  the  case  with 
the  Council  held  at  Constantinople  in  381,  which 
reckons  as  the  first  of  the  four  General  Councils 
which  have  been  held  in  that  city,  and  as  the  second 
Synod  of  the  Universal  Church.  Some  writers,  as 
Bouix,  think  that  there  is  sufficient  proof  that  the 
Emperor  Theodosius,  who  in  fact  issued  the 
summonses,  acted  with  the  previous  approval  of 
Pope  St.  Damasus ;  but  the  more  common  opinion 
of  historians  and  canonists  is  that  this  Council  was 
not  ecumenical  except  by  virtue  of  a  subsequent 
Papal  ratification  of  its  acts.  Also,  there  is  no 
distinct  record  of  the  previous  Papal  sanction  to 
the  gathering  of  Bishops  at  Nice  in  325,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  of  Papal  approval  of  their  meeting,  as 
we  shall  see  directly :  and  we  learn  from  So/omen 
(Hist.  Eccl.  3,  10 ;  P.G.  67,  1057),  that  in  the  time 
of  Pope  Julius,  about  340,  the  principle  was  well 


460  THE  POPE   AND  THE  BISHOPS.  [297 

recognized  that  nothing  could  be  done  validly 
without  the  assent  of  the  Roman  Pontiff;  and  he 
appealed  to  this  principle  without  fear  of  contra- 
diction, even  in  controversy  with  heretics  who  had 
held  a  sham  council  without  leave  from  Rome.  See 
also  Socrates  to  the  same  effect  (Hist.  EccL  2,  17; 
P.G.  67,  220) :  and  many  other  proofs  of  the  same 
doctrine  are  found  in  the  Acts  of  the  Councils. 

There  is  some  controversy  as  to  whether  it  is 
ever  lawful  for  the  Catholic  Bishops  to  meet  to- 
gether to  discuss  the  affairs  of  the  Church  without 
the  Papal  summons,  and  the  question  is  discussed 
with  reference  to  certain  extreme  and  highly  im- 
probable cases.  Those  writers  who  believe  it  to  be 
possible  that  the  Pope  should  fall  publicly  into  open 
heresy  (n.  295)  commonly  hold  that  the  vacancy  in 
the  Holy  See  must  be  declared  by  the  Bishops 
gathered  together  at  the  summons  of  the  Cardinals, 
or  of  some  one  from  among  their  own  number  who 
takes  the  responsibility ;  and  the  same  course  would 
perhaps  be  lawful  if  an  insoluble  doubt  arose  as  to 
the  rights  of  two  rival  claimants  to  the  Papacy, 
or  if  the  Cardinals  absolutely  refused  to  hold  an 
election  to  fill  a  vacancy.  These  speculative 
questions  are  interesting,  as  showing  that  every 
possibility  has  been  foreseen  and  discussed.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  power  which  insti- 
tuted the  practice  of  the  election  of  the  Pope  by 
the  Cardinals,  with  certain  formalities,  can  modify 
that  practice,  or  abolish  it  altogether,  if  it  seem 
expedient  (n.  262) ;  and  we  may  believe  that  if  a 
dying  Pontiff  foresaw  that  there  was  any  risk  of  the 


297]  ECUMENICAL   COUNCILS  461 

Cardinals  being  hindered  from  holding  an  election, 
by  the  violence  of  the  civil  power  or  otherwise, 
he  would  make  suitable  provision  to  meet  the 
emergency. 

The  Primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  involves  the 
right  to  preside  in  every  General  Council,  which 
right  he  has  exercised  by  himself  and  his  legates. 
Also,  his  right  to  summon  the  Council  involves  the 
right  to  fix  the  place  of  meeting,  and  to  change  it 
as  seems  expedient. 

The  right  to  be  summoned  to  a  General  Council 
belongs  primarily  to  those  who  are  immediately 
charged  with  the  work  of  teaching  and  governing 
the  faithful  in  their  several  dioceses,  that  is  to  say, 
to  the  Bishops  having  ordinary  jurisdiction  (n.  268) ; 
they  may  have  this  right  even  before  they  have 
received  the  episcopal  consecration.  The  Cardinals 
also  are  called,  even  when  they  are  not  Bishops; 
and  in  the  Vatican  Council  there  were  some  Bishops 
who  had  none  but  a  delegated  jurisdiction,  as  Vicars 
Apostolic,  and  the  like.  All  these  are  present  as 
judges,  with  a  decisive  voice:  but  other  persons  are 
often  admitted,  such  as  Generals  of  Religious  Orders, 
eminent  theologians,  and  others,  whose  advice  is 
likely  to  be  useful,  although  they  do  not  vote.  Lay- 
men have  also  been  admitted,  and  treated  with  the 
honour  due  to  their  rank  and  merits,  and  we  have 
an  instance  of  this  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  when 
the  assembled  Fathers  were  addressed  by  the 
Emperor  Constantine.  The  practice  as  to  admitting 
others  than  Bishops  actually  ruling  dioceses  has  not 
been  uniform.  • 


462  THE  POPE  AND  THE   BISHOPS.  [297 

The  decisions  of  the  Council  are  commonly 
arrived  at  by  the  votes  of  the  individuals  who  are 
present  with  decisive  voice:  but  sometimes  the 
Fathers  have  been  divided  into  nations,  each  nation 
voting  among  themselves,  and  the  matter  being 
decided  by  the  majority  of  nations. 

The  acts  of  a  General  Council  have  no  binding 
force  unless  they  are  confirmed  in  some  \\  ay  by  the 
Roman  Pontiff;  for  the  Bishops  do  not  represent 
the  Church  except  in  virtue  of  their  union  with  their 
head.  The  confirmation  of  disciplinary  laws  may 
be  given  by  legates  deputed  for  the  purpose ;  but 
dogmatic  decrees  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Pope 
personally,  for  the  prerogative  of  infallibility  belongs 
to  him  alone,  and  cannot  be  deputed,  (n.  268.) 

There  are  some  cases  of  loose  language  being 
used,  as  if  Councils  of  the  Church  had  been  con- 
vened by  laymen,  Emperors  or  others,  who  had  also 
confirmed  the  Acts.  There  may  have  been  instances 
of  lawless  usurpation  of  some  such  right ;  but  the 
language  of  historians  is  commonly  to  be  explained 
as  referring  to  aid  given  by  the  civil  power  in 
facilitating  the  journeys  of  the  Bishops  to  the 
place  of  meeting,  providing  for  their  maintenance, 
securing  the  public  peace  and  adopting  the  neces- 
sary measures  for  enforcing  the  decisions  arrived 
at.  The  Church  is,  and  always  has  been,  wider  than 
the  dominions  of  any  human  ruler;  and  therefore 
it  is  impossible  to  maintain  that  it  belongs  to 
the  civil  power  to  command  the  attendance  of  the 
whole  episcopate ;  besides  which,  to  convoke  and 
confirm  would  be  an  act  of  government,  and  as 


2Q7  ECUMENICAL   COUNCILS.  463 

such  is  reserved  to  the  divinely  instituted  hierarchy, 
(n.  202.) 

298.  The  Time  of  Schism. — We  saw  in  a  former 
place  (p.  218)  that  between  the  years  1378  and  1417, 
a  serious  doubt  existed  as  to  the  person  of  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter.  There  had  been  similar 
instances  in  earlier  times  of  rival  claimants  to  the 
Papacy,  but  there  was  no  instance  where  the  doubt 
as  to  the  true  succession  had  continued  so  long,  or 
where  there  was  so  much  difficulty  in  deciding 
which  of  the  rivals  had  a  true  right  to  the  obedience 
of  the  world.  This  state  of  doubt  whether  the 
Holy  See  were  full,  and  if  so  by  what  person  it  was 
filled,  could  not  fail  to  weaken  all  ecclesiastical 
discipline  and  to  be  the  occasion  of  the  gravest 
abuses :  and  men  cast  about  for  means  of  putting 
an  end  to  so  disastrous  a  state  of  things.  Many 
thought  that  a  meeting  should  be  held  of  all  the 
Bishops  of  the  Catholic  world,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  moral  weight  of  an  assembly  of  the 
kind  would  be  likely  to  induce  the  rival  claimants 
to  resign  whatever  rights  they  had,  and  so  it  in  fact 
proved :  a  Council  was  held  at  Constance,  during 
which  two  of  the  claimants  were  induced  to  resign ; 
and  although  a  third  persisted,  he  had  no  following, 
and  was  a  palpable  usurper,  whose  claim  was  disre- 
garded :  the  result  was  that  the  Holy  See  was 
undoubtedly  vacant,  and  was  filled  by  the  election 
of  Martin  V.,  who  was  accepted  as  Pope  by  all 
parties. 

But  if  the  claimants  had  remained  obstinate,  and 
refused  to  resign,  what  could  have  been  done  ?  This 


464  THE  POPE  AND  THE  BISHOPS.  [298 

was  a  question  warmly  debated  at  the  time,  and 
which  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  finally  settled 
for  centuries.  The  tendency  of  the  Gallican  school 
(n.  290)  was  to  hold  that  the  assembled  Bishops, 
forming  what  may  be  called  the  material  of  a 
General  Council,  had  power  superior  to  that  of  the 
Pope,  however  certain  his  title ;  and  decrees  were 
adopted  by  the  assembly  at  Constance,  before  the 
end  of  the  schism,  by  which  such  a  right  was 
claimed :  but  these  were  at  once  repudiated  by 
Pope  Martin  V.,  as  soon  as  an  undoubted  election 
gave  him  an  indisputable  claim  to  the  Papacy. 
The  claim  has  long  been  wholly  untenable,  and  a 
long  series  of  Papal  utterances  to  this  effect  will 
be  found  in  Denzinger,  which  have  been  put  forth 
without  provoking  protest  from  the  Church  at  large, 
and  which  therefore  are  binding,  even  according  to 
Gallican  teaching.  If  any  doubt  were  left,  it  is 
cleared  up  by  the  decree  of  the  Ecumenical  Council 
which  we  have  quoted  (n.  286),  according  to  which 
the  power  of  the  Pope,  by  Divine  institution,  extends 
directly  and  immediately  to  the  whole  Church,  no 
exception  being  made  of  Bishops,  whether  scattered 
or  assembled  in  one  place.  There  is  therefore  no 
provision  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church  for  the 
case  of  rival  claimants  of  the  Papacy,  each  having 
plausible  arguments  in  favour  of  his  right  and  com- 
manding the  obedience  of  a  notable  proportion  of 
the  Bishops  who  had  been  in  communion  with  the 
Pope  before  the  rise  of  the  schism  :  one  may  be  the 
lawful  Pope,  and  if  so,  no  human  authority  is  com- 
petent to  depose  him :  but  the  continuance  of  this 


2g8]  THE  TIME  OF  SCHISM.  465 

state  of  things  would  be  destructive  to  the  Church, 
and  on  this  ground  we  believe  that  the  providence 
of  God  will  not  allow  it  to  occur,  (n.  192,  viii.) 

299.  Recapitulation. — The  account  that  has  been 
given  in  this  chapter  of  a  subject  of  first-rate 
importance  is  most  imperfect,  for  the  matter  belongs 
to  works  on  history  and  canon  law,  while  its  strictly 
theological  treatment  would  be  very  short :  the 
Vatican  decree  on  the  Primacy  includes  all  that 
has  to  be  said.  The  way  was  prepared  for  this 
decree  by  the  investigations  of  historians  and 
canonists,  and  notices  of  the  now  obsolete  con- 
troversies may  be  seen  in  Jungmann's  Dissertations 
and  Bouix  On  the  Pope,  and  elsewhere.  We  have 
given  the  results  at  which  they  arrive,  without 
entering  into  the  necessarily  lengthy  arguments  by 
which  they  are  supported,  the  due  appraising  of 
which  requires  a  special  training  in  the  methods 
of  each  science,  with  knowledge  of  the  value  of  the 
sources  from  which  they  draw.  The  general  con- 
clusion is  that  the  Bishops  assembled  by  authority 
of  the  Pope  have,  and  have  always  been  held  to 
have,  an  infallible  authority  in  matters  of  faith,  as 
well  as  power  of  legislation  for  the  Universal 
Church;  but  that  the  decision  whether  such  an 
assembly  shall  b>:  held  lies  with  the  Pope  alone, 
who  also  regulates  all  the  details  of  the  meeting, 
confirms  or  annuls  the  decrees  as  he  sees  fit,  and 
who  is  himself  not  bound  by  any  of  the  disciplinary 
proceedings  of  the  Council. 


EE  VOL.  1. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   TEMPORAL   POWER. 

300.  Subject  of  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we  shall 
consider  certain  points  of  contact  between  the 
Church  and  Catholic  States.  The  chapter  finds 
jts  place  in  this  Treatise  rather  than  in  the  Treatise 
on  the  Church,  for  these  are  matters  in  which 
action  is  usually  taken  by  the  Roman  Pontiff,  who 
is  especially  concerned  in  all  that  relates  to  his 
Temporal  Power,  from  which  important  topic  the 
chapter  takes  its  title.  We  speak  of  the  relations 
of  the  Church  to  Catholic  States,  for  the  matter  does 
not  directly  concern  such  States  as  do  not  profess 
to  be  guided  by  Catholic  principles ;  but  it  is  well 
that  even  such  civil  governors  as  disclaim  the  name 
of  Catholic  should  understand  what  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Church  upon  the  subject :  they  will  learn  that 
far  from  having  anything  to  fear  from  the  Church, 
every  Civil  State  will  find  that  it  receives  strong 
support  from  her  action  ;  and  at  the  same  time  will 
see  the  wisdom  of  abstaining  from  such  encroach- 
ments upon  her  domain  as  she  cannot  allow  without 
compromising  principles  which  she  is  bound  to 
maintain  immutable  and  sacred.  Thus,  the  State 
cannot  justify  interfering  with  marriage,  except  in 


300]  SUBJECT  OF  CHAPTER.  467 

its  purely  civil  aspects,  nor  with  religious  or  clerical 
vocations,  nor  with  the  religious  education  of 
children. 

301.  Church  and  State. — We  have  already  pointed 
out  (nn.  173 — 180)  that  the  Church  and  the  Civil 
State  are  two  distinct  societies,  to  both  of  which 
every  man  should  belong,  in  order  to  work  for  the 
attainment  of  his  end,  by  the  use  of  all  his  faculties. 
The  Church  is  unique ;  the  State  exists  in  various 
divisions,  and  it  is  in  general  a  matter  of  indifference 
which  of  these  divisions  a  particular  man  joins.  The 
societies  have  different  ends,  which,  however,  are  in 
perfect  accord ;  due  diligence  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
one  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  like  diligence  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  other,  and  in  fact  the  two  pursuits 
are  mutually  helpful :  the  more  fully  a  man  is 
actuated  by  Catholic  principles,  a  more  useful  subject 
will  he  be  in  the  State  to  which  he  belongs,  being 
law-abiding,  just,  and  charitable;  and  active  in 
advancing  all  that  is  good  for  the  community 
according  to  his  opportunities :  and  he  will  find  in 
the  exercise  of  his  civil  and  social  duties  a  large 
opportunity  of  working  out  his  supernatural  end, 
by  the  service  of  God  in  the  persons  of  his  fellow- 
men. 

Further,  the  two  societies  can  help  each  other 
by  their  corporate  action,  for  'each  can  legislate  for 
its  subjects  in  such  a  manner  as,  without  departing 
from  its  own  proper  end,  to  promote  the  end  of 
the  other  (see  n.  179)  ;  but,  as  there  pointed  out, 
a  difficulty  may  arise  if  the  governors  of  the  one 
society  take  a  view  as  to  what  is  necessary,  which 


468  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER.  [301 

clashes  with  the  view  taken  by  the  governors  of  the 
other  society.  The  difference  will  often  be  cleared 
up  by  mutual  explanations;  but  in  the  last  resort, 
the  dispute  must  be  settled  by  the  consideration 
that  the  end  of  the  Church  is  higher,  and  wider, 
than  that  of  the  State :  and  again,  the  governors  and 
the  other  members  of  the  State  are  members  of 
the  Church,  for  we  are  speaking  of  Catholic  States, 
and  in  this  capacity  they  owe  deference  to  the 
judgment  of  the  governors  of  the  Church,  to  whom 
they  themselves,  as  Catholics,  avow  themselves 
subject. 

These  very  general  principles  admit  of  and 
require  infinite  modification  in  their  application  to 
particular  states  of  circumstances. 

302.  Immunity. — An  illustration  of  what  we  have 
been  saying  is  found  in  the  matter  of  immunity.  It 
will  conduce  to  the  harmonious  co-operation  of 
Church  and  State  if  each  society  show  respect  to 
the  position  held  by  the  officials  of  the  other,  and 
this  principle  is  fully  recognized  by  the  Church.  If 
a  person  who  is  convicted  of  crime  before  the 
Church  Court,  hold  a  high  position  in  the  State,  the 
ecclesiastical  judge  will  have  regard  to  this  circum- 
stance, and  either  remit  the  punishment  altogether 
or  at  least  inflict  a  lighter  penalty  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  awarded.  And  in  the  case  of 
temporal  sovereigns  this  principle  of  prudence  is 
enforced  by  positive  law.  The  Canon  Law  declares 
(Lib.  I,  Deer.  tit.  33,  c.  4)  that  all  princes  and  other 
men  are  subject  to  the  Bishops  of  the  diocese  to 
which  they  belong ;  yet  from  the  thirteenth  century 


302]  IMMUNITY.  469 

downwards  the  Roman  Pontiffs  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  granting  to  various  princes  an  immunity 
from  this  jurisdiction,  so 'that  they  should  not  be 
liable  to  excommunication  save  on  the  sentence 
of  the  Pope  alone :  and  canonists,  true  to  their 
principle  that  favours  are  to  be  interpreted  widely, 
gather  that  the  will  of  the  Pontiff  is  that  all  princes 
should  enjoy  this  immunity :  the  reasons  for  which 
it  has  been  granted  to  some  appearing  to  be 
applicable  to  all.  The  power  thus  reserved  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  has  been  used  most  sparingly,  in 
spite  of  provocation :  and  few  men  will  deny  that 
Pope  Pius  VII.  was  justified  in  proceeding  to  the 
last  extremity  when,  in  1809,  he  issued  an  excom- 
munication against  the  first  Napoleon,  a  professing 
Catholic,  whose  power  crumbled  almost  imme- 
diately. 

On  the  same  principle,  the  Church  strives  to 
protect  her  officials  from  suffering  unduly  at  the 
hands  of  the  civil  power :  and  although  at  the 
present  day  there  is  in  some  countries  less  need  of 
this  protection,  and  the  rule  regarding  it  has  been 
much  modified,  as  will  be  seen  in  our  next  section, 
yet  there  have  been  times  when  prejudice  was  rife, 
and  no  ecclesiastic  could  safely  commit  his  cause  tc 
the  temporal  tribunal.  The  general  Church  law, 
therefore,  forbids  secular  judges  to  force  clerics 
to  appear  before  them,  unless  they  do  so  with 
the  express  or  implied  leave  of  the  ecclesiastical 
superior ;  and  before  the  change  of  discipline  which 
will  be  explained  directly,  every  accusation  made 
against  a  clerk  was  dealt  with  in  the  Bishop's  court: 


470  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER.  [302 

this  court  heard  the  case,  and  if  the  charge  was 
proved,  passed  and  executed  a  sentence  of  imprison- 
ment or  such  other  secondary  punishment  as  seemed 
to  be  called  for.     If  a  culprit  were  brought  before 
the  secular  courts  and  proved  that  he  was  a  clerk, 
he  was  delivered  up  to  the  ecclesiastical  tribunal  to 
be  dealt  with  :  and  no  doubt  the  same  happened  in 
other  countries  as  in  England,  where  the  common 
lawyers  complained  grievously  that  clerks  guilty  ot 
crime  escaped  with  nominal  punishment.      It  was 
natural*  that  the  canonical  penalties  in  use  in  the 
Bishop's  court  should  seem  nominal  in  the  eyes  of 
men  accustomed  to  look  upon  it  as  a  law  of  nature 
that  the  most  trivial  theft  was  to  be  punished  with 
death,  while  other  offences  were  visited  with  cruel 
public  whippings  or  long  and  foul  imprisonment. 
These   same   common   lawyers,  as   time   went   on, 
became  ashamed  of  their  own  system,  and  were  glad 
to  find  an  escape  from  its  horrors  in  the  fiction  by 
which  they  allowed  "  benefit  of  clergy  "  to  convicts 
who  offered  no  other  proof  of  their  clerkship  than 
the  ability  to  read  a  prepared  verse,  usually  the  first 
verse  of  the  Psalm  Miserere.     The  long  and  curious 
history  of  this  matter  may  be   seen   in  Stephen's 
History  of  the  Criminal  Law,  i.  459 — 472.     Of  course, 
the  Bishops   did    not   consider   that  the   canonical 
immunity  extended   to  men  who  had  none   but  a 
sham    qualification    for    clerkship :    and    so   these 
criminals  escaped    scot   free.      We   have    here   an 
instance  of  the  enemies  of  the  Church  finding  that 
their  own  ways  of  proceeding  failed,  so  that  they 
were  driven  to  imitate  the  Church,  and  blundered  in 


J02]  IMMUNITY.  471 

the  process :  a  process  which  Blackstone  describes 
as  "  a  noble  alchemy,  extracting  rich  medicines  out 
of  poisonous  ingredients."  (Comm.  4,  371.) 

If  the  Bishop's  court  adjudged  that  a  clerk  had 
been  guilty  of  a  crime  for  which  the  canonical 
penalty  was  inadequate,  it  was  not  without  the 
means  of  dealing  duly  with  the  case :  the  criminal 
was  "  degraded "  and  handed  over  to  the  secular 
tribunal.  The  ceremony  of  degradation  may  be 
seen  in  the  Pontifical.  Its  effect  was  to  undo,  so 
far  as  lay  in  the  power  of  man,  the  effect  of  ordina- 
tion, and  this  effect  is  symbolized  by  each  step  of 
the  proceeding ;  the  sacred  vestments  being  taken 
away,  -the  anointed  fingers  scraped,  and  so  on. 
This  ceremony  was  gone  through  in  the  case  of  the 
wretched  priest  by  whom  Archbishop  Sibour  of 
Paris  was  murdered  in  the  year  1857.  The  result 
is  that  the  degraded  priest  loses  all  canonical 
priviler'.'S,  and  the  exercise  of  all  clerical  functions 
becomes  unlawful:  but  the  power  of  validly  con- 
secrating and  absolving,  under  the  necessary  con- 
ditions, remains,  for  these  depend  on  the  presence 
of  the  priestly  character,  which  once  impressed  on 
the  soul,  remains  for  ever. 

303.  Concordats. — We  have  said  that  the  strict 
law  of  the  Church,  such  as  we  have  described,  is  not 
necessarily  applicable  at  the  present  day:  and  an 
illustration  of  this  is  found  in  case  of  Concordats. 
A  Concordat  is  in  the  nature  of  a  treaty  between  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  as  Supreme  Governor  of  th 
Catholic  Church  and  the  Head  of  a  State,  whereby 
in  consideration  of  certain  undertakings  on  the  part 


47*  THE  TEMPORAL   POWER.  [303 

of  the  civil  ruler,  the  Pope  expresses  himself  content 
to  abstain  from  urging  for  the  present  certain  of  his 
rights :  with  the  result  that  all  Catholics  may  with 
a  safe  conscience  act  in  accordance  with  the  Con- 
cordat. The  real  effect  of  a  Concordat,  according 
to  the  intention  of  the  Pontiff,  is  often  wider  than 
the  words ;  and  if  any  doubt  arises  concerning  the 
binding  effect  of  the  Canon  Law  in  any  country,  it 
must  be  solved  by  application  to  the  Bishop,  who  if 
he  sees  fit,  will  obtain  instructions  from  Rome. 
Even  in  countries  where  no  Concordat  exists,  we 
have  the  high  authority  of  Cardinal  D'Annibale 
(Summ.  Theol.  v.  2,  n.  353)  that  in  some  respects,  at 
least,  the  will  of  the  Pontiff  is  not  to  urge  the  Canon 
Law :  but  this  question  belongs  to  the  Moralists. 

Also,  we  must  refer  to  the  Canonists  for  the 
discussion  of  the  question  how  far  the  Pontiff  is 
bound  by  a  Concordat,  or  whether  he  can  validly 
declare  that  he  no  longer  means  to  abide  by  it ; 
whether  such  a  renunciation  would  be  prudent  or 
not  must  be  judged  by  the  circumstances,  for  it 
might  be  prudent  in  some  extreme  case  where  the 
State  absolutely  refused  to  carry  out  its  part  of 
the  arrangement :  but  the  abstract  question  of  the 
validity  is  an  abstruse  point,  on  which  it  does  not 
concern  us  to  enter. 

304.  The  Gallican  Liberties. — We  have  spoken 
(n.  283)  of  the  Gallican  school  of  theology,  whose 
tendency  was  to  represent  the  Pontiff  as  occupying 
a  position  of  less  authority  than  that  which  is 
assigned  him  by  the  Vatican  Decree  on  the  Primacy. 
The  lawyers  of  France  adopted  similar  views ;  and 


304]  THE  GALLICAN  LIBERTIES.  473 

in  their  mouths,  and  in  the  mouths  of  such  of  the 
clergy  as  agreed  with  them,  the  power  of  the 
Church,  or  of  the  Pontiff  as  representing  the  Church, 
was  much  limited  by  certain  rights  which  were 
asserted  as  belonging  to  the  State.  There  was  some 
difference  of  opinion  whether  these  rights  should 
be  claimed  as  inherent  in  the  Civil  State,  or  as 
belonging  to  the  kings  of  France  in  virtue  of  some 
ancient  grant.  Conspicuous  among  these  pretended 
rights  was  the  claim  that  no  indication  of  the  will 
of  the  Pontiff,  of  whatever  nature,  was  to  take  effect 
within  the  dominions  of  the  kings  of  France  until 
it  had  received  the  royal  sanction :  different  phases 
of  this  right  were  known  as  the  placitum  regium  and 
the  exequatur.  Akin  to  these  was  the  right  claimed 
by  the  royal  courts  to  entertain  appeals  from  the 
decisions  of  the  ecclesiastical  judges,  under  pretence 
that  these  were  abusing  their  authority — tanquam 
ab  abusu.  In  the  times  before  the  nature  and  Divine 
right  of  the  Primacy  were  clearly  denned,  as  being 
of  Divine  origin  and  incapable  of  restriction  by 
human  power,  these  so-called  liberties  were  defended 
and  approved  by  men  who  were  undoubtedly  learned 
and  sincere  Catholics;  at  the  present  day  no 
defence  of  them  could  be  possible,  unless  it  were 
shown  that  they  were  part  of  an  arrangement  in  the 
nature  of  a  Concordat  that  had  been  made  by  some 
Pontiff,  and  was  still  in  force.  Nothing  of  the 
kind  can  be  shown  for  France  or  for  any  other 
country :  no  sovereign  would  cut  himself  off  from 
the  possibility  of  free  communication  with  his 
subjects. 


474  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER.  [305 

305.  The  Temporal  Power. — We  have  seen  (n.  291) 
why  it  is  fitting  that  the  rulers  of  each  of  the  two 
societies,  of  Church  and  State,  should  so  exercise 
their  power  as  to  show  some  regard  for  the  position 
of  those  who  hold  office  in  the  other ;  and  that  the 
Church  is  within  her  right  in  deciding  how  far  this 
immunity  is  to  extend,  so  that  she  holds  it  not 
merely  through  an  act  of  comity  on  the  part  of  the 
State,  but  as  claiming  something  that  is  essentially 
her  own.  And  plainly,  if  there  be  any  Churchmen 
to  whom  this  immunity  belongs,  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  must  be  of  the  number,  for  as  his  juris- 
diction is  unlimited,  so  is  the  necessity  for  his 
perfect  freedom  absolute.  The  exercise  of  his  high 
office  would  be  impossible,  were  he  liable,  even  in 
theory,  to  be  summoned  to  plead  his  cause  before 
temporal  tribunals  whose  power  was  wielded  by  men 
who  were  his  subjects  in  the  spiritual  society.  And 
since  it  is  a  clear  point  of  Catholic  doctrine  that 
the  Church  should  be  governed  by  a  Pontiff  clothed 
with  the  prerogatives  that  we  have  described,  no 
Catholic  can  question  the  right  of  the  Pope  to  be 
exempt  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  tribunals  of  any 
civil  power;  the  duty  imposed  upon  the  Pontiff 
of  governing  the  whole  Church  implies  a  right  to 
that  exemption  from  common  obligations  without 
which  this  duty  can  hardly,  or  not  at  all,  be 
performed. 

What  is  here  said  of  the  immunity  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  civil  tribunals  which  belongs  to  the 
Pope  in  virtue  of  his  divinely  instituted  office,  must 
be  said  also  of  the  Cardinals  and  others  who  are 


305]  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER.  475 

around   him,  and  without  whose  aid  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  govern  the  Church,  (n.  268.) 

It  follows  that  the  Pope  and  his  court  must 
either  reside  in  a  territory  over  which  the  head  of 
some  nation  claims  to  exercise  jurisdiction,  while 
professing  to  allow  full  immunity  to  the  Head  of 
the  Church  and  those  around  him ;  or  else  that 
the  Pope  must  be  the  acknowledged  independent 
sovereign  of  a  distinct  territory.  The  first  arrange- 
ment is  not,  speculatively  speaking,  impossible ; 
but  it  will  be  inconsistent  with  the  free  and  effective 
exercise  of  the  Papal  functions  unless  a  number  of 
conditions  are  fulfilled  which  will  never  be  observed. 
In  the  first  place,  there  must  be  good  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  sovereign,  and  firm  honesty  of  purpose  : 
he  must  be  proof  against  the  strong  temptation 
which,  will  be  always  upon  him  to  employ  for  his 
own  aggrandizement  the  great  power  that  he  has 
in  his  hand,  and  excuses  for  doing  so  will  never  be 
wanting.  And  it  is  not  enough  that  the  ruler 
should  be  honest :  he  must  also  have  power  over 
his  subordinates,  and  over  all  his  subjects,  to  secure 
that  they  shall  faithfully  assist  him  in  carrying  out 
his  honest  purpose :  and  this  power  of  control  is 
far  beyond  what  is  possessed,  or  is  likely  to  be 
possessed,  by  any  ruler  on  the  earth.  Even  if 
a  man  of  exceptional  strength  to  command  were 
able  to  impress  his  will  on  the  whole  array 
of  those  among  whom  his  authority  is  shared, 
from  the  Cabinet  Ministers  down  to  the  post- 
men and  police,  any  one  of  whom  would  have 
great  powers  of  petty  annoyance :  yet  old  age  would 


476  THE  TEMPORAL   POWER.  [305 

come  and  the  iron  will  would  fail,  and  during  the 
dotage  of  the  Ruler,  the  promised  immunity  would 
be  gone :  nor  can  any  assurance  be  felt  that  the 
successor  would  have  the  same  honesty  and 
strength.  The  conditions  on  which  the  government 
of  the  Church  depends  might  fail  at  any  moment, 
or  could  be  maintained  only  by  a  perpetual  miracle. 

Nor  is  this  all.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  Pope 
be  free,  if  he  be  not  known  to  be  free.  Now,  when 
it  is  seen  that  the  Pope  is  in  the  power  of  one 
among  the  many  nations  which  it  belongs  to  his 
office  to  govern,  a  suspicion  will  surely  arise  that 
his  actions  towards  other  nations  is  in  some  manner 
influenced  by  his  connection  with  that  one  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  resides :  and  this  suspicion  will 
be  fatal  to  his  influence,  which  depends  wholly 
upon  his  moral  power.  During  the  seventy  years 
(1307 — 1377)  that  the  Popes  resided  at  Avignon, 
their  authority  fell  into  great  contempt,  for  they 
were  regarded  as  creatures  of  the  French  monarch. 
Also,  it  is  too  clear  to  need  mention  that  he  would 
be  wholly  unable  to  rebuke  as  might  be  needful  the 
monarch  and  great  men  of  the  place  of  his  abode. 

For  these  reasons  and  others  that  might  be 
added,  we  see  that  the  government  of  the  Church 
cannot  be  carried  on  efficiently,  unless  the  Pope  is 
the  independent  Ruler  of  a  State :  and  we  under- 
stand with  how  much  reason  Pope  Pius  IX. 
condemned  those  who  think  otherwise.  He  will 
not  allow  that  they  deserve  to  be  called  sons  of 
the  Catholic  Church  who  argue  about  the  compati- 
bility of  temporal  and  spiritual  kingship  (Denz. 


305]  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER.  477 

1624),  and  he  condemns  the  proposition  that  the 
abrogation  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Apostolic 
See  would  conduce  very  much  to  the  liberty  and 
happiness  of  the  Church  (Denz.  1625) ;  similar 
passages  are  found  in  abundance  in  the  Papal 
utterances  of  the  last  forty  years.  It  was  therefore 
the  good  providence  of  God  over  His  Church  that, 
immediately  after  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  secured  to  the  Popes  the  government  of 
an  independent  territory,  and  no  government  in 
Europe  can  show  a  better  title  than  that  in  virtue 
of  which  the  Popes  exercised  their  sovereignty  for 
more  than  fifteen  centuries.  It  is  true  that  during 
the  times  of  persecution  they  had  no  temporal 
power,  with  the  result  that,  almost  to  a  man,  they 
were  murdered  by  the  government  that  held  sway 
over  them  :  but  no  one  will  say  that  in  those  days 
the  Church  had  attained  her  full  development  and 
normal  state.  Nor  must  it  be  said  that  a  small 
independent  territory,  such  as  the  old  States  of  the 
Church,  was  useless  for  securing  freedom  to  the 
Popes,  who  were  necessarily  swayed  by  the  wishes 
of  powerful  neighbours.  Even  a  small  territory 
secured  them  from  the  insidious  modes  of  attack 
to  which  the  Pope  is  liable  if  he  rests  merely  on  a 
guaranteed  immunity ;  whereas  any  violation  of  the 
territory,  however  small,  would  have  attracted 
attention,  and  roused  the  spirit  of  all  that  was 
Catholic  in  Europe. 

The  ways  of  God  are  unknown  to  us ;  but  we 
remember  that  history  tells  us  of  many  times  when 
the  prospects  of  the  Church  seemed  no  less  dark 


478  THE  TEAfl'ORAL   POWER.  [305 

than  they  are  at  present,  while  the  Pontiff  is 
deprived  of  his  freedom  of  action.  In  527,  Pope 
John  I.  died  in  prison,  in  exile,  in  the  hands  of  an 
enemy  who  called  himself  a  Christian :  tne  same 
fate  befell  St.  Silverius,  and  in  more  recent  times 
Pius  VI.;  whose  successor  Pius  VII.  was,  in  i8cg, 
carried  prisoner  into  a  foreign  land,  yet  very  shortly 
he  was  restored  to  his  own  by  the  influence  of  a 
nation  that  made  no  pretence  of  being  his  spiritual 
children. 

306.  Recapitulation. — In  this  chapter  we  have 
dealt  with  a  few  points,  belonging  properly  to  public 
Canon  Law,  concerning  the  relations  of  the  Church 
with  temporal  princes.  This  closes  our  Treatise 
on  the  Roman  Pontiff,  which  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  continuation  of  the  Treatise  on  the  Church. 
The  Church  under  the  Roman  Pontiff  and  often 
speaking  by  his  voice,  gives  us  proximate  guidance 
in  matters  of  faith  and  morals:  extracting  and 
applying  the  teachings  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scripture  and  the  other  monuments  of  Tradition, 
and  thus  making  known  to  us  the  contents  of  the 
message  brought  to  each  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
whose  Divine  authority  we  learned  in  our  first 
Treatise.  Thus  we  reach  the  close  of  our  pre- 
liminary matter,  and  we  might  proceed  at  once  to 
the  Treatises  of  Theology  properly  so  called  :  on 
God,  One  and  Three,  and  on  the  action  of  God  in 
the  world.  But  it  is  usual  and  convenient,  before 
passing  on,  to  treat  shortly  a  few  points  concerning 
the  virtue  of  Faith,  a  Treatise  on  which  will  close 
this  volume. 


TTreatlse  tbe  Sijtb, 
FAITH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   ACT  OF   FAITH. 

307.  Plan  of  Treatise. — "Without  faith  it  is 
impossible  to  please  God."  (Hebrews  xi.  6.)  This 
declaration  of  the  Apostle  teaches  us  that  faith  is 
necessary  for  man,  if  he  is  to  attain  his  end,  in  a 
way  which  it  is  not  true  of  other  virtues  or  disposi- 
tions. All  forms  of  Christianity  therefore  agree  in 
recognizing  the  supreme  importance  of  faith,  but 
they  differ  very  much,  one  from  another,  in  the 
explanations  that  they  give  upon  the  matter.  We 
shall  in  this  Treatise  try  to  set  forth  and  justify  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  faith,  so  far  as  is  needed  to 
illustrate  the  relation  of  individual  Christians  to  the 
Church.  The  subject  of  faith  has  a  place,  more  or 
less,  in  almost  every  Treatise  of  Theology,  and  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  make  frequent  use  of 
the  word ;  and  we  shall  find  ourselves  compelled, 
in  the  present  Treatise,  to  anticipate  much  of  what 
will  be  said  in  future  volumes  on  God,  justification, 
the  Sacraments,  and  other  subjects.  The  impossi- 


480  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [307 

bility  that  we  so  often  meet  with,  of  treating  any 
part  of  theology  alone,  apart  from  other  portions, 
serves  to  show  that  dogmatic  theology  is  a  single 
science,  and  not  a  mere  bundle  of  detached  dis- 
quisitions. It  has  been  said  that  each  theological 
Treatise  requires  to  be  introduced  by  Prolegomena, 
containing  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  science.  A 
•clear  perception  of  this  essential  oneness  of  the 
subject  will  lead  the  reader  to  exercise  patience, 
and  to  believe  that  what  seem  to  be  obscurities 
and  omissions  will  disappear  before  the  end  is 
reached. 

We  shall  discuss  in  three  chapters,  the  nature  of 
an  act  of  faith,  its  relation  to  reason,  and  to  the 
Church. 

308.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we 
shall  consider  the  meaning  borne  by  the  word  faith 
in    Holy   Scripture,  and   show   that   it   is   what    is 
expressed    by    the    definition    given    by    Catholic 
divines.     The  conditions  of   an   act   of  faith   will 
then  be  shown  to  be  what  this  definition  suggests. 
But  first  it  will  be  necessary  to  explain  some  terms 
of  which  we  must  make  use. 

309.  Explanation  of  Terms. — There  are   certain 
terms  connected  with  our  subject,  as  to  which  it  is 
of  vital  importance  to  have  clear  notions.    We  shall 
borrow  the  explanations  of  some  of  these  from  the 
work  of  Father  John  Rickaby  on  The  First  Principles 
of  Knowledge,  the  whole  of  which,  but  especially  the 
third  and  thirteenth  chapters  of  the  first  part,  should 
be  studied  by  all  who  wish  to  obtain  a  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  subject. 


309]  EXPLANATION  OF  TERMS.  481 

I.  Certitude  is  defined  to  be  "the  state  of  the 
mind  when   it  firmly  assents  to  something,  because 
of  motives  which  exclude  at  least  all  solid,  reason- 
able  misgivings,   though    not    necessarily   all   mis- 
givings whatsoever."      We  assume  here  that  man 
may  have  certitude  as  to  some  parts  of  his  know- 
ledge,   in   the    sense    here   defined,   and   that   this 
knowledge  bears  a  resemblance  to  the  thing  known : 
to  deny  this  is  that  ultra  scepticism  which  renders 
discussion  impossible.    The  sources  of  certitude  are 
discussed  in  the  second  part  of  Father  Rickaby's 
work,  just  quoted. 

II.  Ignorance  is  the  state  of  mind  of  a  person 
who  knows  nothing  on  a  subject. 

III.  Doubt  "  in  its  widest  sense  would  include 
all  the  states  intermediate  between  Ignorance  and 
Certitude."     But  it  may  conveniently  be  narrowed, 
and    confined    to    those    cases    where    the     mind 
recognizes    that    there    is    a    question:    we    may 
have  Negative  Doubt,  where  the  mind  is  in  a  state 
of  equipoise  "  due  to  the  absence  of  valid  reasons 
on  either  side ; "  or  Positive  Doubt,  which  is  "  the 
equipoise   of  the   mind,  due   to   the  fact  that  the 
reasons  on  either  side  are  equal  and  opposite." 

IV.  Suspicion    is   "so    faint   an    inclination   to 
yield   in    one    direction  that   not  even  a  probable 
assent  is  yielded,  but  there  is  a   leaning  towards 
a  side." 

V.  Opinion  is  when  an  assent  is  given  "  as  to  a 
mere   probability"   .   .   .   "in  the  general  sense  of 
what  from  the  appearance  seems  likeliest,  or  at  all 
events  likely."    "  There  is  evidently  wide  room  for 

FF  VOL.  I. 


48s  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [309 

variety  between  the  limits  of  slender  and  of  very 
substantial  probability." 

VI.  Probability  is  the   character  of  a  thing  as 
seen  by  one  who  holds  an  opinion  concerning  it. 

VII.  Belief  will  be  understood  as  having  mean- 
ings that  correspond  to  the  meanings  of  the  verb 
believe.    "  To  believe  signifies  sometimes  (a)  to  hold 
a  thing  as  a  probable  opinion :  and  sometimes  (6) 
to  hold  it  as  "  certain,  whether  (a)  generally,  without 
specially  distinguishing  the  nature  of  the  grounds  or 
09)    specially  on   the   ground   of  the   testimony  of 
witnesses,  or  (7)  again  specially,  in  cases  where  the 
object  is  not  immediately  presented  to  the  percep- 
tive faculties,  e.g.,  belief  in  a  fact  as  remembered." 
We  shall  commonly  employ  the  word  b  ft. 

VIII.  Evidence   is   "that   character   or   quality 
about    proposed   truths    or    propositions,    whereby 
they  make  themselves  accepted  by  the  intellect,  or 
win  assent ;  while  the  intellect  is  made  conscious 
that  such  assents  are  not  mere  subjective  pheno- 
mena of  its  own,  but  concern  facts  and  principles 
which  have  a  validity  independent  of  its  perception 
of  them.  .  .  .  "Evidence  is  not  a  proposition  at  all, 
but  a  character  of  all  propositions  which  so  come 
before  the  mind  as  rightly  and  for  their  own  sake  to 
demand  its  assent."      Truths  or  propositions  that 
have  this  character  or  quality  are  said  to  be  Evident. 
Error   being   a   non-entity  can    never  demand  the 
assent  of  the   mind,  or  be   evident,  in  the  sense 
explained,  that  is,  there  cannot   be   real   evidence 
of  that  which  is  not  true :  it  can  only  be  through 
hastiness  of  judgment,  culpable  or  inculpable,  that 


3og]  EXPLANATION  OF  TERMS.  483 

Probability,  however  high,  is  mistaken  for  Evidence. 
It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  remark  that  the  word 
Evidence,  as  here  used,  has  none  but  a  remote  con- 
nection with  the  popular,  forensic  use  of  the  word, 
as  when  we  say  of  a  lawsuit,  that  conflicting  evi- 
dence is  adduced  by  the  parties.  "  Evidence  "  such 
as  this  is  very  far  from  making  the  thing  "  evident." 

IX.  Credible  is  said  of  an  object  of  Belief,  in  all 
the   senses   of  that  word.     We   shall  call  a  thing 
credible  when  it  is  held  as  certain  on  the  testimony 
of  witnesses.     It  may  be  evident  that  a  thing  is 
credible,  although  the  thing  itself  is  far  from  evident. 

We  take  the  next  definition  from  the  Moral 
Philosophy  of  Father  Joseph  Rickaby. 

X.  "A    Habit  is  a  quality  difficult  to  change, 
whereby  an  agent  whose  nature  it  was  to  work  one 
way  or  another,  indeterminately,  is  disposed  easily 
and  readily,  at  will,  to  follow  this  or  that  particular 
line   of  action.     Habit  differs   from   Disposition,  as 
Disposition  is  a  quality  easily  changed.  .  .  .  Again, 
Habit    differs    from    Facility   or  Power:    as  Power 
enables  one  to  act ;  but  Habit,  presupposing  Power, 
renders  action  easy  and  expeditious,  and  reliable  to 
come  at  call." 

XL  Natural  and  Infused  Habits  are  distinct  in 
origin,  and  to  some  extent  in  result.  Naturally,  a 
habit  is  the  result  of  acts,  and  is  said  to  be  A  cquired. 
These  primitive  acts  were  done  "  with  difficulty, 
fitfully,  and  with  many  failures ;  "  but  when  they 
had  engendered  the  habit,  they  were  done  "  readily, 
reliably,  and  artistically."  Repeated  acts,  then, 
have  a  natural  power  of  working  some  change  in 


484  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [309 

the  man,  which  is  seen  in  its  effects,  but  the  in- 
trinsic nature  of  which  it  belongs  to  Psychology  to 
discuss.  The  primitive  acts  engender  the  natural 
habit  by  way  of  second  causes,  and  God,  the 
First  Cause,  can,  if  He  pleases,  do  by  His  direct 
action  whatever  He  ordinarily  does  through  second 
causes.  He  can,  therefore,  produce  a  habit  in  a 
man,  even  when  the  man  has  not  performed  any 
primitive  acts :  and  such  a  habit  would  be  said  to 
be  infused.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  according  to 
most  theologians — Valentia  is  an  exception — the 
infused  habits  make  the  corresponding  acts  possible, 
but  do  not  render  them  easy.  This  is  all  that  we 
need  to  say  at  present :  it  belongs  to  the  Treatise 
on  Justification  to  show  that  the  concession  of  such 
Infused  Habits  is  a  part  of  the  ordinary  supernatural 
providence  of  God.  We  shall  see  when  we  treat  of 
grace  that  the  presence  of  an  infused  habit  is  neither 
necessary  nor  sufficient  to  render  possible  a  super- 
natural act. 

XII.  Grace  is  the  subject  of  one  of  the  principal 
Treatises  of  Theology.  It  is  enough  for  our  present 
purpose  to  say  that  by  Grace  we  mean  an  influence 
not  required  by  man's  nature,  but  gratuitously 
bestowed  upon  man  by  God,  without  which  he 
would  be  unable  to  attain  the  supernatural  end  for 
which  he  is  destined  :  which  influence  gives  light  to 
the  intellect  and  strength  to  the  will,  to  help  it  to 
perform  an  act  which  is  good  in  itself,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  raise  this  act  above  its  natural  value 
and  make  it  such  as  to  help  the  doer  towards  his 
supernatural  end. 


3io]  "FAITH"  IN  SCRIPTURE.  465 

310.  "Faith"  in  Scripture. — The  English  word 
faith,  representing  almost  invariably  the  Greek 
7rio-T49  and  the  Latin  Fides,  occurs  very  frequently 
in  the  New  Testament:  the  adjective  "faithful" 
represents  the  Greek  Trto-ro?  and  the  Latin  fidelis; 
while  the  English  uses  "believe"  and  the  Latin 
credo,  for  the  corresponding  Greek  verb,  irurrevm. 
The  constancy  of  this  usage  is  remarkable,  especially 
as  it  extends  to  such  negative  forms  as  "  unbeliever," 
"  faithless,"  &c. :  and  it  is  further  most  remarkable 
that,  putting  aside  some  stray  exceptions  which  are 
easily  shown  to  be  apparent  only,  the  meaning  con- 
veyed by  these  words  is  everywhere  the  same,  and 
is  a  meaning  not  difficult  of  apprehension:  it  is 
what  we  have  explained  as  the  leading  meaning  of 
"  belief."  (n.  309,  vii.  b  yS.)  Faith  is  represented  in 
Scripture  as  being  an  act  of  the  intellect,  in  saying 
which  we  by  no  means  say  that  the  influence  of  the 
will  is  excluded,  but  merely  that  the  act  of  faith  is 
completed  in  the  intellect.  This  follows  from  the 
very  idea  of  faith  which,  as  opposed  to  sight,  signifies 
belief  on  the  testimony  of  another :  and  when  this 
other  is  God,  we  have  Divine  faith,  with  which  alone 
we  are  concerned  :  and  thus  we  have  the  definition 
of  faith  given  by  the  Vatican  Council  (Sess.  3, 
cap.  3 ;  Denz.  1638) :  "  Faith  is  a  supernatural  virtue, 
through  which  by  the  influence  and  with  the  aid  of 
the  grace  of  God  we  believe  that  the  things  which 
He  has  revealed  are  true,  not  because  of  their  in- 
trinsic truth  seen  by  natural  light,  but  on  the 
authority  of  God  Himself,  who  has  given  the  revela- 
tion, who  cannot  be  deceived  nor  deceive."  That 


4 86  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [310 

faith  is  thus  opposed  to  sight  is  seen  plainly  in  such 
passages  as  the  words  of  Christ  to  St.  Thomas  the 
Apostle,  on  the  blessedness  of  them  that  have  not 
seen  and  have  believed  (St.  John  xx.  29) ;  and  that 
it  is  in  the  intellect  follows  from  the  second  half  of 
the  verse  the  opening  words  of  which  we  quoted  at 
the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  He  that  cometh  to 
God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  is  a  rewarder  td 
them  that  seek  Him.  (Hebrews  xi.  6.)  It  is  a  work 
of  the  intellect  to  believe  that  God  is.  None  other 
was  the  faith  of  Abraham,  which  was  reputed  to 
him  unto  justice  (Genesis  xv.  6),  and  which  is  so 
extolled  by  St.  Paul  (Romans  iv.) :  he  believed  on 
the  authority  of  God,  who  made  the  revelation, 
that  his  seed  should  be  as  the  number  of  the  stars : 
and  another  passage  from  the  same  Epistle  (x.  9) 
is  very  clear:  If  thou  confess  with  thy  mouth  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  hath 
raised  Him  up  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved. 
Such  was  the  word  of  faith  which  St.  Paul  preached  : 
the  person  addressed  had  not  seen  the  risen  Lord, 
but  if  he  believed  the  word  of  the  preacher  as  a 
messenger  from  God,  it  would  be  well  with  him. 
This  sense  will  be  found  to  be  applicable  in  all 
places  of  Holy  Scripture,  except  in  some  stray 
instances  as  where  the  words  in  question  (Trio-revo), 
credo)  are  plainly  to  be  translated  "committed,"  or 
the  like,  (i  Cor.  ix.  17.) 

311.  Erroneous  Views. — A  great  variety  of 
erroneous  meanings  have  been  attached  to  the  word 
"  faith,"  and  this  sometimes  by  Catholic  writers, 
especially  of  early  times.  Thus,  assent  to  first 


3n]  ERRONEOUS    VIEWS.  487 

principles  has  sometimes  been  called  faith ;  as  has 
all  mediate  knowledge  of  a  cause  from  its  effect ; 
also,  all  firm  conviction,  especially  on  religious 
matters,  or  approval  of  certain  religious  views. 
Many  confound  faith  with  opinion,  ascribing  to 
belief  the  first  meaning  that  we  gave  (n.  309,  vii.  a) ; 
and  many  again  confound  it  with  confidence,  in 
which  sense  it  is  very  frequently  used  by  Protestants, 
especially  in  connection  with  their  doctrine  on 
Justification. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  word  "  faith  "  is  often 
used  in  Scripture  where  it  would  seem  that  we  might 
substitute  "  confidence,"  as  in  the  case  of  the  praise 
addressed  by  our  Lord  to  the  Syrophenician  woman 
(St.  Matt.  xv.  28),  "  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith," 
where  the  point  might  seem  to  be  that  her  per- 
sistence showed  great  confidence  in  the  power  and 
goodness  of  Him  to  whom  she  made  her  prayer. 
But  this  confidence  was  nothing  but  the  outcome  of 
her  belief  that  He  was  good  and  powerful,  a  truth 
which  He  had  revealed  to  her  by  His  words  and 
works,  together  with  the  interior  working  of  His 
grace ;  and  so  the  text  gives  no  new  sense  to  the 
word  "  faith  ;  "  and  many  other  texts  are  susceptible 
of  the  same  explanation :  but  the  meaning  "  confi- 
dence "  is  wholly  out  of  place  in  such  passages  as  we 
have  quoted  from  Genesis,  St.  John,  and  St.  Paul. 

St.  Paul  has  given  us  (Hebrews  xi.  i)  an  inspired 
definition  of  Faith  :  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things 
to  be  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  that  appear 
not.  St.  Thomas  (Summa,  2.  2.  q.  4.  a.  i.)  shows 
by  a  course  of  subtle  reasoning  that  this  definition 


488  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [311 

includes  all  that  is  essential  in  faith,  and  that 
all  other  definitions  are  mere  expansions  of  this 
text.  Thus,  he  remarks,  that  the  word  translated 
"  evidence "  excludes  all  doubt ;  though  we  must 
remember  that  the  word  is  not  here  used  in  the 
sense  which  we  have  explained  (n.  309,  viii.) :  the 
Greek  e\ey%o<;  and  the  Latin  argumentum  would 
perhaps  be  better  represented  by  "conclusive  proof." 
Faith  is  concerned  with  "things,  not  seen,"  differing 
herein  from  sight :  that  it  deals  with  "  things  to  be 
hoped  for"  shows  that  the  Apostle  has  in  mind 
Divine  faith,  which  help  us  to  eternal  beatitude. 

312.  Analysis  of  Faith. — In  Faith,  we  must 
distinguish  the  material  object,  01  thing  that  we 
believe,  e.g.,  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  God,  from 
the  formal  object,  or  reason  why  we  believe  it :  in 
this  case,  because  God  has  revealed  it.  If  the 
formal  motive  of  our  assent  be  the  evidence, 
immediate  or  mediate,  we  have  knowledge  or  sight, 
and  not  faith.  There  is  a  controversy  whether 
there  can  be  Faith  and  Sight  concerning  the  same 
object,  in  other  words  whether  we  can  believe  a 
thing  both  because  we  are  told  it  on  good  authority 
and  because  we  see  it  to  be  true.  St.  Thomas, 
Scotus,  and  others  hold  that  when  a  thing  is  seen, 
the  adhesion  of  the  mind  receives  no  strengthening 
from  the  authority  of  one  who  states  that  it  is  so ; 
but  the  commoner  opinion  is  that  of  Lugo,  who 
holds  that  there  may  be  Sight  which  does  not 
satisfy  all  the  requirement  of  the  mind,  and  that 
authority  may  find  a  place,  to  complete  its  satis- 
faction. 


3i2]  ANALYSIS  OF  FAITH.  489 

In  order  that  a  man  may  have  faith,  besides 
the  knowledge  that  God  can  neither  deceive  nor 
be  deceived,  he  must  have  certitude  that  God  has 
spoken :  and  this  certitude  is  given  by  the  what 
are  called  the  motives  of  credibility,  the  existence 
of  which  man  can  know  with  certitude.  Several 
points  of  this  statement  need  development. 

The  authority  of  God  is  plainly  presupposed  in 
every  act  of  faith,  and  we  need  not  base  the  act  on 
any  assertion  of  the  Divine  veracity  conveyed  along 
with  the  revelation;  for  this  supposition  at  once 
raises  the  question  why  we  are  to  believe  this 
assertion.  Faith  would  not  be  reasonable  if  it 
rested  on  such  an  assertion  which  by  supposition 
is  unsupported,  (i  St.  Peter  iii.  15.)  The  reader 
must  be  warned  that  what  is  here  said,  although 
a  common  view,  is  not  universally  accepted  by 
theologians.  It  is  the  teaching  of  Lugo,  Franzelin, 
and  many  others,  who  argue  at  length  in  support 
of  their  view,  on  the  ground  of  the  vicious  circle 
which  they  find  in  the  opposing  explanation  given 
by  Viva  and  many  others,  following  Suarez.  They 
remark  further  that  if  the  thing  revealed  is  believed 
simply  because  it  is  revealed,  then  it  cannot  properly 
be  said  to  be  believed  on  the  authority  of  Him  that 
gives  the  revelation.  And  our  faith  is  to  be  a 
reasonable  service,  the  work  of  our  reason,  aided 
by  grace ;  and  it  will  not  be  so  unless  we  see  that 
we  have  sufficient  motives  for  yielding  our  assent. 
This  account  of  the  famous  controversy  must  suffice 
for  the  present.  (See  further  n.  302.) 

That   we   must   have   certitude,   and  not   mere 


490  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [312 

opinion,  that  God  has  spoken,  follows  from  this 
that  without  it  we  could  not  have  certitude  regarding 
the  material  object  of  the  act :  we  should  be  in 
doubt,  which  is  inconsistent  with  faith,  in  the 
Scriptural  sense.  (Acts  viii.  37 ;  St.  James  i.  6.) 
And  this  is  why  the  following  proposition  was 
condemned  by  Pope  Innocent  XI.  (Prop.  21 ;  Denz. 
1038):  "A  supernatural  assent  of  faith,  profitable 
for  salvation,  is  consistent  with  a  merely  probable 
knowledge  of  revelation,  and  even  with  a  misgiving 
that  perhaps  God  has  not  spoken."  The  motives 
of  credibility  which  give  this  certitude  are  those 
contained  in  our  first  Treatise  (see  nn.  74,  75), 
where  we  showed  that  the  miracles  of  Christ,  the 
prophecies,  and  other  topics  proved  evidently  that 
the  Divine  origin  of  the  Christian  Revelation  was 
credible  If  it  is  thought  that  the  Divine  origin  of 
a  revelation  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  sublimity 
of  the  matter  revealed,  then  we  no  longer  have 
faith,  but  sight.  The  Vatican  Council  (Sess.  3, 
Can.  4,  De  Fide ;  Denz.  1660)  defines  that  miracles 
may  sometimes  be  known,  and  that  they  prove 
the  Divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion.  It 
must  of  course  always  be  kept  in  mind  that  these 
miracles  and  other  proofs  do  no  more  than  dispose 
men  to  faith,  and  render  the  fact  of  the  revelation 
certain :  they  do  not  constitute  the  formal  object 
of  faith,  which  is  none  other  than  the  authority  of 
God.  It  will  be  observed  that  our  doctrine  leaves 
an  important  function  to  reason,  even  in  a  question 
of  faith.  The  relation  of  the  two  forms  the  subject 
of  our  next  chapter. 


313]  THE  CERTITUDE  OF  REVELATION.  491 

313.  The  Certitude  of  Revelation. — We  must  now 
consider  more  in  particular  what  that  certitude  of 
the  fact  of  Revelation  must  be,  without  which  no 
act  of  faith  is  possible.  And  first  it  is  clear  that 
there  is  no  need  that  the  whole  mass  of  motives  of 
credibility  should  be  present  to  the  mind,  for  if 
this  were  so,  no  man  could  ever  make  an  act  of 
faith,  or  attain  salvation.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  the  motives  of  credibility  be  so  overwhelming 
as  to  make  the  fact  of  Revelation  evident,  for  then 
the  act  of  faith  would  no  longer  be  free  and  meri- 
torious :  the  devils  believe  and  tremble  (St.  James 
ii.  19),  but  the  fact  of  Revelation  is  to  them  evident, 
and  they  have  no  merit  in  their  faith,  which  in 
truth  is  something  different  from  the  faith  of  which 
men  are  capable.  It  follows,  as  we  have  said  (n.  75), 
that  such  motives  are  necessary  and  sufficient  as 
make  the  fact  of  Revelation  evidently  credible. 

It  will  be  observed  that  no  act  of  faith  can  be 
made  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  in  any  particular 
Host.  We  have  certitude  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Real  Presence  in  every  duly  consecrated  Host  is 
divinely  revealed,  for  this  is  a  part  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  proposed  by  the  infallible  Church  (nn.  205, 
327) ;  but  we  cannot  have  certitude  concerning  any 
one  Host,  that  it  is  duly  consecrated,  for  there  may 
have  been  some  fatal  defect  in  the  rite.  We  can, 
however,  adore  every  Host  which  we  prudently 
judge  to  be  consecrated,  because  the  act  of  adora- 
tion does  not  require  certitude  as  to  the  character 
of  the  object,  provided  we  have  probability :  and 
there  is  no  peril  of  idolatry,  for  an  act  of.  this  sort 


492  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [313 

must  be  judged  according  to  the  intention  with 
which  it  is  done ;  and  no  one  intends  to  adore  a 
Host  absolutely,  but  only  on  the  supposition  that 
it  is  consecrated.  In  the  same  way  we  may  give 
an  alms  to  an  impostor  whom  we  prudently  believe 
to  be  a  deserving  person.  By  this  conduct  we 
have  in  fact  given  encouragement  to  wickedness; 
but  it  is  nevertheless  laudable  as  an  act  of  charity 
to  our  neighbour.  A  difficulty  that  may  be  felt  on 
this  matter  has  been  anticipated,  (n.  192,  viii.) 

The  nature  and  weight  of  these  motives  will 
vary  infinitely  with  the  variety  of  ability  and  attain- 
ments of  each  man.  Whatever  the.  man  sees  to  be 
enough  to  remove  prudent  misgiving  from  his  mind 
is  enough  for  him.  We  saw  (n.  309,  viii.)  that  this 
state  of  mind  can  never  go  along  with  falsehood  ; 
the  truth  of  the  thing  may  show  itself  to  different 
persons  in  very  different  forms,  but  falsehood  can 
never  show  itself  at  all.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
children  and  rude  and  uninstructed  persons,  if  they 
have  little  power  to  understand  and  weigh  motives 
of  credibility,  have  on  the  other  hand  little  tendency 
to  entertain  doubts,  as  is  shown  by  every  day's 
experience.  The  tendency  of  a  child's  mind  is  to 
believe  everything  which  is  told  to  him  by  his 
parents,  or  other  persons  whom  he  trusts ;  hence, 
if  they  tell  him  that  there  is  a  God  who  rewards 
them  that  seek  Him  (Hebrews  xi.  6),  he  believes 
them  without  misgiving,  and  makes  a  saving  act 
of  faith  in  the  revelation  which  has  been  thus 
made  known  to  him ;  if  they  go  on  to  tell  him  that 
the  Pope  is  the  enemy  of  God,  he  still  probably 


313]  THE  CERTITUDE  OF  REVELATION.  493 

fails  to  recognize  any  ground  for  misgiving,  and  so 
believes  as  before;  but  he  is  mistaken,  however 
blamelessly;  and  if  he  had  considered  the  matter 
more  attentively,  he  would  have  seen  ground  of 
misgiving,  and  as  time  goes  on  he  will  perhaps 
recognize  it ;  if  not,  he  will  come  to  his  death  still 
holding  the  truth  and  the  error,  and  will  attain 
salvation  by  his  faith  in  spite  of  the  misfortune 
under  which  he  has  been  labouring. 

What  is  here  said  of  motives  of  credibility  may 
happen  in  other  matters.  Thus,  a  boy  may  solve 
two  questions  in  arithmetic  :  he  deals  with  the  one 
correctly  and  obtains  the  correct  result ;  in  the 
other  he  blunders,  and  his  answer  is  wrong.  He 
feels  the  same  assurance  about  both ;  he  is  not 
conscious  of  having  taken  more  care  with  one  than 
the  other;  yet  the  fact  that  one  is  right  and  the 
other  wrong  remains,  and  is  entirely  independent 
of  his  assurance  on  the  subject.  But  there  is  a 
great  difference  in  the  cases  of  the  two  sums.  In 
the  first  case,  no  amount  of  diligence  will  detect 
any  flaw  in  the  working,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
there  is  no  flaw ;  in  the  other,  there  is  a  flaw  which 
may  be  detected  if  sufficient  diligence  be  used. 
Also,  we  may  remark  that  a  mistake  in  arithmetic, 
however  little  culpable,  may  be  financially  disastrous; 
and  in  the  same  way,  an  inculpable  mistake  in  the 
search  for  revealed  truth,  though  not  sinful  in  itself, 
may  involve  grave  spiritual  loss. 

What  is  here  said  of  children  is  true  of  the  rude 
and  simple  of  all  ages,  and  in  fact,  it  may  perhaps 
be  said  to  be  true,  in  a  measure,  with  all  mankind. 


494  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [3!3 

Those  who  deal  much  with  the  young  and  un- 
educated, often  observe  that  the  truths  of  faith  sink 
into  their  minds  and  seem  to  find  a  place  there, 
whereas  they  are  troubled  and  tend  to  reject  the 
teaching,  if  any  error  in  faith  chances  to  be  set 
before  them. 

All  this  is  curiously  illustrated  by  the  history  of 
conversions  to  the  faith ;  the  reasons  that  one 
person  assigns  as  having  led  him  into  the  Church 
often  seeming  strangely  insufficient  in  the  eyes  of 
his  fellows.  Much,  no  doubt,  depends  upon  the 
measure  of  illuminating  and  exciting  grace  which 
is  given  to  each  person  (n.  318),  the  distribution  of 
which  is  known  to  God  alone ;  much  also  upon  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  infused  habit  of  faith 
(n.  309,  xi.)  which,  as  we  shall  show  hereafter,  is 
given  to  all  men  who  are  justified  and  is  not  lost 
unless  and  until  they  commit  some  sin  which  is 
expressly  opposed  to  the  virtue  of  faith. 

The  Vatican  Council  tells  us  that  God  by  His 
grace  stirs  up  them  that  are  in  error,  and  helps 
them  that  they  may  come  to  the  truth ;  and  that 
in  the  case  of  such  as  have  already  passed  from 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  light,  He  strengthens 
them  that  they  may  persevere,  not  deserting  them 
unless  He  first  be  deserted. 

314.  Faith  and  Moral  Virtues. — It  is  worth  while 
to  say  something  more  on  the  difference  between 
Faith  and  the  Moral  Virtues,  to  clear  up  the 
difficulty  which  is  sometimes  felt  as  to  why  certainty 
is  required  for  Faith,  while  Probability  suffices  in 
other  cases  to  make  an  act  meritorious.  The 


314]  FAITH  AND  MORAL   VIRTUES.  495 

subject  has  already  been  touched  on.  ^.313.)  One 
difference  between  the  two  cases  is  found  in  the 
unchangeable  nature  of  Faith,  for  what  we  have 
once  believed  we  can  never  be  at  liberty  to  deny, 
whereas  he  who  has  once  given  an  alms  to  a  parti- 
cular person  is  no  way  obliged  to  make  the  same 
person  the  object  of  a  second  bounty.  Also,  Faith 
puts  him  that  believes  under  burdensome  obliga- 
tions, which  is  not  ordinarily  the  case  with  the 
other  virtues ;  if  the  case  accidentally  occur  that  an 
act  of  almsgiving  would  be  specially  burdensome, 
nothing  short  of  certainty  can  make  it  obligatory. 
It  is  seldom  that  we  can  have  certainty  as  to  the 
deserving  character  of  one  who  is  to  be  the  object 
of  our  bounty,  and  so,  were  certainty  necessary,  this 
form  of  virtue  would  seldom  be  possible ;  probability 
is  enough  to  make  our  act  a  laudable  recognition 
of  the  claims  of  charity,  whereas  adhesion  to  error 
can  never  laudably  take  the  place  of  adhesion  to 
truth,  although  it  may  sometimes  be  laudable  as 
showing  humility  or  other  moral  virtue.  But  the 
chief  difference  is  found  in  the  exclusion  of  all 
misgiving  which  is  necessary  for  Faith,  as  already 
explained,  (n.  312,  and  see  Viva's  commentary  on 
the  condemned  proposition  there  quoted.) 

315.  Faith  in  God. — Of  the  wisdom  of  our  Lord 
there  is  no  number.  (Psalm  cxlvi.  5.)  He  that 
sent  Christ  is  true.  (St.  John  viii.  26.)  It  is  impos- 
sible for  God  to  lie.  (Hebrews  vi.  18.)  In  these 
texts  we  have  a  clear  revelation  of  the  Divine 
veracity,  which  is  therefore  a  part  of  the  material 
object  of  faith.  But  according  to  the  doctrine  of 


496  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [315 

Lugo  which  we  follow  (n.  312),  this  same  veracity 
is  presupposed  in  every  act  of  faith,  and  a  difficulty 
may  be  felt  as  to  how  we  can  assent  to  a  pro- 
position on  a  ground  which  presupposes  the  truth 
of  that  proposition.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that, 
as  already  remarked  (n.  312),  the  same  truth  may 
be  the  object  both  of  faith  and  of  sight ;  our 
acceptance  of  it  may  rest  on  two  distinct  grounds ; 
so  that  in  the  case  before  us  we  may  believe  in 
the  Divine  veracity,  both  because  our  reason  teaches 
us  that  God  is  veracious,  and  because  the  veracious 
God  has  revealed  the  doctrine  to  us.  And  this  last 
assent  is  a  true  act  of  Divine  faith,  or  submission 
to  the  authority  of  God,  and  therefore  lacks  nothing 
of  the  characters  that  render  other  acts  of  Divine 
faith  laudable. 

316.  Faith  Obligatory  and  Free. — Every  person 
to  whom  the  fact  of  revelation  becomes  known  is 
bound  to  believe  the  truth  revealed ;  for  by  suppo- 
sition, it  is  evident  to  him  that  he  can  prudently 
accept  the  truth  of  the  revelation,  and  to  refuse  to  do 
so  is  an  insult  to  Him  that  gave  it ;  besides  which, 
the  revelation  teaches  that  without  faith,  salvation 
is  impossible  (Hebrews  xi.  6),  so  that  he  who 
refuses  to  make  the  act  of  faith  which  he  sees  to 
be  prudently  possible,  sins  by  refusing  to  do  what 
is  necessary  for  his  salvation. 

That  faith  is  free  scarcely  needs  to  be  demon- 
strated, so  clear  is  the  teaching  of  Scripture  and 
experience  on  the  subject.  There  is  a  common 
saying  that  none  are  so  blind  as  those  who  will  not 
see,  which  attests  the  conviction  of  men  that  belief 


3i6]  FAITH  OBLIGATORY  AND  FREE.  497 

'depends  to  some  extent  upon  the  free-will.  And 
it  is  in  accordance  with  this  that  we  find  in  Scripture 
that  faith  is  praised  (Romans  iv.  3),  and  rewarded 
(Romans  x.  9),  while  the  want  of  it  is  blamed 
(St.  Luke  ix.  41),  and  punished.  (St.  Mark  xvi.  16.) 
All  this  implies  that  faith  is  free ;  and  the  root  of 
this  freedom  is  found,  as  already  explained  (n.  75), 
in  the  power  of  the  will  to  turn  the  attention 
towards  or  away  from  considerations  which  the 
evidence  afforded  by  the  motives  of  credibility  has 
shown  to  be  mere  trifles,  such  as  ought  not  to  weigh 
with  a  prudent  man. 

No  one  who  has  once  seen  that  the  Christian 
Revelation,  or  any  part  of  it,  is  evidently  credible, 
can  ever  have  good  reason  for  reconsidering  the 
question,  on  pretence,  for  example,  of  suspending 
assent  until  the  matter  is  made  clear  to  them  on 
intrinsic  grounds ;  it  is  evident  to  him  that  his 
doubt  is  unreasonable.  This  is  taught  by  the 
Vatican  Council  (Sess.  3,  cap.  3,  and  Can.  6,  De 
Fide;  Denz.  1642,  1662);  and  Pope  Innocent  XI. 
had  long  before  condemned  the  proposition  (Prop. 
20,  Denz.  1037 »  see  Viva  on  this  and  the  kindred 
proposition)  that  a  man  may  sometimes  prudently 
withdraw  a  supernatural  assent  which  he  has  once 
given.  Whenever  any  one  who  held  any  part  of 
Christian  faith  abandons  it,  we  know  that  there 
has  been  sin. 

317.  Doubts  as  to  Faith. — This  will  be  the  place 
to  point  out  the  difference  between  the  cases  of  a 
Catholic  and  of  one  who  is  not  a  Catholic,  when 
doubts  occur  to  them  regarding  their  religious  belief. 

GG  VOL.  I, 


498  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [317 

When  this  happens,  the  Catholic  is  not  at  liberty 
to  suspend  his  belief,  even  provisionally,  while  one 
who  is  not  a  Catholic  is  not  only  at  liberty  to  insti- 
tute an  inquiry,  but  may  be  bound  to  do  so,  and 
even  to  embrace  a  new  doctrine.  The  reason  of 
this  difference  is  that  the  truth  will  always  be  seen 
more  clearly,  the  more  diligently  it  is  investigated ; 
especially  when  we  speak  of  the  truth  concerning 
the  revelation  which  has  been  granted  by  God  to 
men,  and  which  is  the  necessary  means  of  their 
salvation ;  but  error  will  never  seem  more  accept- 
able when  subjected  to  closer  honest  inquiry.  He, 
therefore,  who  has  once  been  a  Catholic,  and  who 
has  had  the  absolute  certainty  of  the  truth  of 
Catholic  faith  as  a  Divine  revelation,  must  be  con- 
vinced beforehand  that  an  inquiry  pursued  with 
suspended  faith  cannot  possibly  lead  him  to  truth  ; 
but  if,  retaining  his  assent,  he  humbly,  faithfully, 
and  prayerfully  seek  a  sclution  of  his  doubt  he  will 
attain  it,  for  God  will  not  refuse  him  the  light  he 
needs  and  asks  for.  One  who  is  not  a  Catholic 
has  not  got,  and  cannot  have,  the  same  certainty 
(n.  313),  for  error  in  religion  cannot  be  evidently 
credible ;  and  when  doubt  occurs  to  him,  and  he 
pursues  it,  he  will  discover  that  the  certainty  which 
he  imagined  that  he  had  was  no  true  certainty,  for 
it  was  no  more  than  an  opinion  which  he  had 
mistaken  for  certainty,  and  this  whether  his  mistake 
had  been  culpable  or  inculpable.  It  may  happen 
that  a  man  is  outside  the  Church,  and  in  error 
in  his  religious  faith,  and  that  no  doubt  ever  occurs 
lo  him ;  or  he  may  conceive  a  doubt,  but  on  inquiry 


317]  DOUBTS  AS  TO  FAITH.  49i 

see  what  he  deems  to  be  prudent  reasons  to  put  it 
aside :  in  these  cases  he  remains  blamelessly  in  his 
error,  (see  n.  184.) 

318.  The  Need  of  Grace. — It  is  the  doctrine  oi 
the  Catholic  Church,  to  be  fully  discussed  in  the 
Treatise  on  the  subject,  that  no  salutary  act  can 
be  done  by  man  without  the  assistance  of  that 
supernatural  illumination  and  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  which  is  called  grace.  One  effect  of 
this  grace  is  to  assist  the  weakness  of  man,  giving 
further  light  to  his  intellect  and  strength  to  his  will, 
beyond  their  natural  strength ;  but  another  effect 
is  to  raise  the  act  to  a  dignity  of  which  it  would 
otherwise  be  devoid,  and  to  which  no  act  of  any 
pure  creature  can  attain  without  Divine  help :  this 
dignity  being  what  is  needed  to  make  the  act 
conducive  to  the  attainment  of  the  altogether  super- 
natural end  for  which  man  in  fact  is  destined.  A 
branch  of  this  general  doctrine  is  taught  by  the 
Vatican  Council  in  the  third  Session  (cap.  3,  De 
Fide,  and  Can.  5),  where  those  are  condemned  who 
assert  that  grace  is  not  necessary  for  an  act  of  faith, 
unless  it  be  that  living  faith  which  acts  through 
charity.  An  act  of  faith,  conducive  to  salvation, 
may  be  made  both  by  one  who  is  of  the  number  of 
the  just  (n.  184)  and  by  a  sinner :  but  in  neither 
case  can  it  be  made  without  the  aid  of  Divine, 
supernatural  grace.  When  we  come  to  discuss  the 
distribution  of  grace  we  shall  see  that  all  men 
always  receive,  either  proximately  or  remotely,  the 
grace  that  is  necessary  to  enable  them  to  attain 
their  end. 


500  THE  ACT  OF  FAITH.  [318 

We  see  the  necessity  of  grace  for  a  salutary  act 
of  faith  when  we  consider  how  strong  is  the  natural 
disinclination  of  men  to  render  obedience ;  and  to 
make  an  act  of  faith  is  to  humble  ourselves  to  obey. 
We  must  assent  to  the  truths  proposed  absolutely, 
not  looking  to  the  internal  reasons  that  may  recom- 
mend them,  but  solely  on  account  of  the  authority 
on  which  they  come ;  and  this,  even  though  we 
may  seem  to  see  internal  difficulties  in  the  matter 
proposed.  Further,  one  who  accepts  the  revelation 
given  by  God,  acknowledges  at  the  same  time  that 
he  is  bound  to  submit  to  the  law  of  God  and  of  the 
Church ;  and  this  submission  not  only  affects  his 
whole  life  in  every-day  matters,  but  not  (infrequently 
involves  his  enduring  grave  inconvenience  rather 
than  violate  his  duty.  In  this  way  we  see  how 
peculiarly  necessary  is  the  grace  of  God  to  help 
those  who  are  called  upon  to  embrace  the  true  faith 
in  their  riper  years :  and  we  remember  that  prayer 
is  the  ordinary  means  of  securing  all  necessary 
grace. 

So  far  we  have  spoken  chiefly  of  the  need  of  the 
grace  that  enlightens  and  strengthens ;  there  is  no 
need  to  enlarge  in  this  place  upon  that  other  effect 
of  grace  which  is  absolutely  necessary  for  every 
salutary  act. 

319.  Tlie  Certainty  of  Faith. — The  nature  of  an 
act  of  faith  will  be  further  illustrated  if  we  consider 
its  certainty.  Among  the  propositions  condemned 
by  Pope  Innocent  XIII.,  the  nineteenth  runs  as 
follows :  "  The  will  is  unable  to  cause  the  assent  of 
faith  to  be  in  itself  more  firm  than  is  due  to  the 


3ig]  THE  CERTAINTY  OF  FAITH.  501 

weight  of  the  reasons  that  impel  to  the  assent." 
(Denz.  1036.)  We  see  how  this  condemnation  ia 
just  if  we  consider  that  the  motives  of  credibility 
are  not  the  formal  object  of  faith  (n.  312) ;  these 
motives  convince  the  reason  that  God  has  spoken, 
and  then  the  will  commands  the  intellect  to  assent 
on  the  authority  of  God  who  has  given  the  revela- 
tion. This  authority  is  the  highest  possible  motive 
for  believing,  and  therefore  affords  grounds  for  the 
firmest  possible  assent :  and  this  firmness  is  not 
proportioned  to  the  motives  of  credibility,  which  are 
merely  a  previous  condition.  A  man  visits  a  place 
which  he  learns  on  undoubted  authority  to  be  the 
scene  of  some  stirring  historical  event :  his  emotions 
depend  on  the  character  of  the  event,  and  are  no 
way  proportioned  to  the  character  of  the  source  of 
his  information  as  to  the  site. 

As  truth  cannot  contradict  truth  (n.  322),  no 
question  can  really  arise  as  to  whether  we  are  ready 
to  adhere  to  the  truths  of  faith  even  in  opposition 
to  naturally  certain  knowledge.  But  subject  to  this 
remark,  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  dignity  of  the 
formal  object  of  faith,  namely  the  authority  of 
God,  outweighs  the  dignity  of  the  formal  object 
of  all  possible  natural  knowledge,  and  commands 
a  higher  degree  of  firmness  of  adhesion.  And 
this  doctrine  is  quite  consistent  with  the  teach- 
ing of  St.  Thomas  (Summ.  Theol.  2.  2.  q.  4.  a.  8. 
corp.),  that  if  certainty  be  considered  on  the  side 
of  the  subject,  natural  knowledge,  which  is  more 
fully  grasped  by  the  intellect,  is  more  certain  than 
that  which  the  intellect  is  incapable  of  grasping; 


;os  THE  ACT  OP  FAITH.  [319 

but  this  accidental  difference  does  not  hinder  the 
simple  assertion  that  faith  is  in  itself  more  certain 
than  knowledge. 

In  all  this  matter,  it  is  most  important  to  avoid 
being  led  to  entertain  questions  which  are  founded 
on  absurd  suppositions. 

320.  Recapitulation. — Much  more  might  be  said 
on  the  nature  of  faith,  but  this  much  must  suffice 
at  present :  the  matter  will  recur  more  than  once. 
In  this  chapter,  which  should  be  read  in  connection 
with  the  seventh  and  last  chapter  of  our  First 
Treatise  on  the  Christian  Revelation,  we  have 
explained  the  meaning  of  certain  important  words, 
and  shown  the  sense  which  the  word  Faith  bears 
in  Scripture,  which  is  Belief  on  the  authority  of 
God.  The  nature  of  faith  is  then  analyzed,  and  the 
grounds  of  its  certainty  are  explained,  especially  in 
the  case  of  the  young  and  the  simple :  after  which 
it  is  shown  that  faith  is  at  once  obligatory  and 
free :  that  grace  is  needed  for  a  salutary  act  of 
faith,  and  that  faith  is  more  certain  than  all  natural 
knowledge. 


CHAPTER  II. 

REVELATION   AND   REASON. 

321.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — This  short  chapter 
will  show,  by  way  of  comment  upon  certain  defini- 
tions of  the  Vatican  Council,  that   Revelation  and 
Reason,  far  from  being  opposed  to  each  other,  afford 
mutual  support. 

322.  Oneness  of  Truth. — In  the  third  chapter  of 
the  Third  Session  of  the  Vatican  Council,  which  we 
have  already  frequently  quoted,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing: "Although  Faith  be  above  Reason,  yet  between 
Faith  and   Reason  no  true  opposition  is  possible  ; 
for  the  same  God  as  reveals  mysteries  and  infuses 
Faith,  has  furnished  the  mind  of  man  with  the  light 
of  reason ;    and  God  cannot  deny  Himself,  nor  can 
Truth  ever  contradict  Truth.     An  empty  semblance 
of  contradiction  arises  either  from  the  doctrines  of 
Faith  not  having  been  understood  and   explained 
according  to   the   mind    of   the   Church,   or   from 
fanciful    opinions    being    taken    for    the    voice    of 
Reason." 

This  is  too  clear  to  need  explanation.  By  way 
of  illustration  we  may  point  out  that,  granting 
geology  has  established  that  the  work  of  creation 
of  the  world  was  not  accomplished  in  six  natural 
days,  yet  this  is  not  against  the  Catholic  faith,  for 


304  REVELATION   AND  REASON.  [322 

the  same  doctrine  was  held  by  St.  Augustine,  fifteen 
centuries  ago.  (De  Genesi  ad  Lit.  4,  34,  53 ;  P.L.  34, 
319.)  On  the  other  hand,  the  Manichean  fancy  of 
two  principles,  which  long  captivated  a  large  part 
of  civilized  mankind,  was  really  opposed  to  the  faith 
of  the  Church,  and  now  finds  no  one  to  support  it. 

323.  Faith  in  Mysteries. — The  same  Council 
teaches,  in  the  following  chapter,  the  following 
doctrine :  "  Reason  enlightened  by  Faith,  by  its 
diligent,  reverent,  and  sober  research,  obtains  from 
God  some  most  fruitful  understanding  of  mysteries, 
from  their  analogy  with  natural  knowledge,  and 
from  their  connection  one  with  another  and  with 
the  last  end  of  man ;  but  it  never  arrives  at  seeing 
them  as  it  sees  the  truths  which  are  its  proper 
object.  For  the  mysteries  of  God  by  their  very 
nature  so  surpass  the  powers  of  the  created  intel- 
lect that  even  when  they  have  been  revealed  and 
accepted  by  faith,  they  nevertheless  remain  covered 
by  the  veil  of  faith  and  enveloped  in  darkness,  so 
long  as  in  this  mortal  life,  being  in  the  body  we  are 
absent  from  the  Lord,  for  we  walk  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight."  The  same  is  expressed  more  shortly  in 
the  First  Canon  on  Faith  and  Reason :  "  If  any 
one  say  that  Divine  revelation  contains  nothing 
that  is  truly  and  properly  called  mystery,  but  that 
all  the  doctrines  of  faith  may  be  understood  and 
demonstrated  from  natural  principles  if  the  Reason 
be  properly  exercised,  let  him  be  Anathema." 

All  this  must  be  admitted,  unless  any  one  would 
say  that  the  human  mind  is  capable  by  its  own 
powers  of  arriving  at  all  truth  ;  which  can  never 


323]  FAITH  IN  MYSTERIES.  505 

be  proved.  In  fact,  all  men  habitually  guide  their 
conduct  by  their  faith  in  mysteries,  which  neither 
they  nor  their  fellows  understand.  No  prudent 
doubt  is  possible  that  messages  are  sent  by  the 
electric  telegraph  across  the  Atlantic ;  yet  very 
few  men  know  this  of  their  own  knowledge ;  they 
believe  it  on  the  authority  of  others,  which  makes 
it  evidently  credible  to  them,  and  their  faith  is  no 
way  disturbed  by  knowing  that  no  man  on  earth 
professes  to  understand  how  the  message  is  sent ; 
vvhat  goes  on  in  the  submarine  cable  is  a  mystery 
to  all  men,  at  least  for  the  present. 

Teachers  of  physical  science  sometimes  indulge 
in  a  vain  boast  that  their  pupils  are  expected  and 
encouraged  to  believe  nothing  that  they  do  not  see ; 
and  sometimes  they  will  claim  for  their  subject  a 
peculiar  degree  of  certainty  on  this  ground  ;  tacitly, 
or  perhaps  openly,  contrasting  their  teaching  with 
the  teaching  of  Christian  preachers,  who  avow  that 
they  call  upon  their  hearers  to  believe  what  is  told 
them  on  the  authority  of  another.  How  vain  is 
this  boast  will  be  seen  by  an  example.  A  lecturer 
on  chemistry  tells  his  class  that  water  is  formed 
by  the  combination  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  in 
certain  proportions,  and  he  performs  an  experiment 
which,  under  a  large  number  of  reserves,  may  be 
allowed  to  suggest  that  what  he  says  is  true,  but 
which  certainly  does  no  more.  A  member  of  the 
class  then  repeats  the  experiment  for  himself,  and 
declares  that  he  obtains  a  different  result.  How 
will  he  be  treated  ?  He  will  most  surely  be  told 
authoritatively  that  he  has  blundered,  that  the 


500  REVELATION   AND  REASON.  [333 

experiment  has  been  performed  thousands  of  times 
by  the  most  skilful  manipulators,  and  so  on ;  in 
short,  he  will  be  told  that  the  lecturer's  account 
is  evidently  credible,  and  that  he  must  exercise  the 
virtue  of  faith,  under  pain  of  being  considered  and 
treated  as  wilfully  obstinate. 

Faith  assists  reason  by  supplying  it  with  a  certain 
number  of  safe  points  of  departure,  which  are  useful 
in  its  study  of  natural  knowledge ;  while  Reason 
assists  Faith  by  its  investigation  of  the  motives  of 
credibility,  and  by  discovering  analogies  existing 
between  the  various  parts  of  Revelation  and  of 
natural  knowledge ;  and  it  clears  up  all  cases  of 
apparent  conflict  between  the  truths  of  Revelation 
and  other  certain  truths.  The  development  of  all 
this  will  be  found  in  the  Encyclical  on  the  subject 
issued  by  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  and  beginning  with  the 
words,  Mterni  Patris. 

324.  Recapitulation. — This  chapter  has  shown  the 
error  of  those  who  represent  Faith  and  Reason  as 
being  in  opposition,  instead  of  working  harmoniously, 
each  in  its  own  sphere. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    RULE    OF    FAITH. 

325.  Subject  of  the  Chapter. — In  this  chapter  we 
shall   consider  the   different    modes   in   which   the 
contents  of  the  Christian   Revelation  and  kindred 
matters  may  become  known  to  us,  and  the  different 
obligations  which  the  knowledge  puts  us  under. 

326.  The  Material  object  of  Faith. — So   far  we 
have  been  speaking  of  the  formal  object  of  Faith, 
or  the  authority  of  God  who  has  given  the  Revela- 
tion.   We  now  come  to  consider  the  material  object 
(n.  312),  or  that  which  we  believe.     We  are  taught 
by  the  Vatican  Council  (Sess.  3,  cap.  3,  De  Fide) 
that  all  things  must  be  believed   with  Divine  and 
Catholic  faith  which  are  contained  in  the  Word  of 
God,  whether  written  or  handed  down  by  tradition, 
and  which  have  been  proposed  by  the  Church  to 
be  believed,  whether  by  a  solemn  judgment,  or  by 
her  ordinary  and  universal  teaching.  (Denz.  1641.) 
It  will  be  observed  that  this  decree  recognizes  a 
distinction  between  Divine  faith  and  Catholic  faith ; 
and  we  hear  also  of  ecclesiastical  faith.     Thus  the 
distinction    is    important    and    easily    understood, 
although  the  names  used  are  perhaps  not  very  apt 
to  signify  it.     That  which   God  has  revealed  may 
be  believed  with  Divine  faith ;  if  further,  the  Church 


508  THE  RULE  OP  FAITH.  [326 

has  proposed  it  for  belief  as  part  of  the  Divine 
Revelation,  it  may  be  believed  with  Divine  and 
Catholic  faith,  or  more  shortly,  with  Catholic  faith. 
If  the  matter  is  proposed  by  the  Church  for  belief, 
not  as  being  revealed,  but  nevertheless  as  coming 
within  the  scope  of  her  Infallibility,  such  as  a 
dogmatic  fact  (n.  211),  it  is  the  object  of  ecclesi- 
astical faith.  To  refuse  belief  to  what  is  a  matter 
of  Divine  and  Catholic  faith  is  the  sin  of  heresy; 
refusal  of  belief  to  what  is  of  Divine  but  not  of 
Catholic  faith,  or  to  what  is  merely  of  ecclesiastical 
faith,  is  sinful,  but  the  sin  is  not  heresy. 

Nothing  can  be  the  object  of  Catholic  faith  that 
is  not  contained,  and  declared  by  the  Church  as 
being  contained,  in  the  public  Revelation  given  to 
the  Church,  (nn.  22,  23.)  Such  parts  of  this  public 
Revelation  as  are  not  defined,  but  become  known 
with  certitude  to  any  person  may  be  believed  by 
him  with  Divine  faith,  as  may  happen  to  a  theo- 
logian who  has  studied  the  monuments  of  tradition 
and  sees  that  it  contains  some  doctrine  which 
the  Church  has  not  yet  defined  in  any  manner. 
Similarly,  Divine  faith  is  due  to  a  private  Reve- 
lation from  God,  if  such  a  Revelation  come  to  be 
known  with  certitude  by  any  person,  which  is 
possible  perhaps,  but  happens  very  rarely,  if  at  all. 
At  the  same  time  it  would  be  rash  and  presumptuous 
of  any  one  to  speak  or  think  contemptuously  of  all 
such  Revelations,  especially  of  such  as  are  widely 
received  among  the  faithful  and  are  circulated 
with  the  sanction,  express  or  tacit,  of  the  Church  ; 
this  sanction  assures  us  that  they  contain 


326]  THE   MATERIAL   OBJECT  OF  FAITH.  509 

opposed  to  the  Catholic  faith  and  that  they  may 
be  studied  with  profit,  but  assures  us  of  nothing 
more. 

Revelation  may  be  formal,  when  the  thing  is 
expressly  or  impliedly  declared  by  God  ;  or  virtual, 
when  it  can  be  inferred  by  necessary  consequence 
from  what  is  revealed.  What  is  revealed  in  either 
mode  may  be  proposed  by  the  Church  for  belief, 
and  become  the  object  of  Catholic  faith. 

327.  Proposal  by  the  Church. — There  are  certain 
modes  employed  by  the  Church  for  infallibly 
declaring  to  the  faithful  the  contents  of  the  public 
revelation  that  she  has  received,  which  are  reserved 
for  occasional  use,  on  extraordinary  occasions. 
These  modes  include  the  definitions  of  Ecumenical 
Councils,  whether  they  are  couched  in  the  form  of 
short  "canons"  alone,  or  of  fuller  "chapters,"  such 
as  were  used  at  Trent  and  at  the  Vatican,  and 
which  have  no  less  authority  than  the  canons,  so 
far  as  it  appears  that  the  Council  meant  them  to 
be  received  as  a  declaration  of  the  faith.  They 
include  also  professions  of  faith  or  creeds,  put  forth 
by  authority,  to  which  may  be  likened  the  tests 
which  have  been  proposed  from  time  to  time  to 
persons  who  have  come  under  suspicion  of  heresy ; 
whether  in  the  form  of  questions  to  be  answered 
by  them  (Denz.  551 — 583),  or  propositions  to  be 
subscribed.  (Denz.  1488 — 1493.)  Here  also  come 
ex -cathedral  definitions  of  the  Roman  Pontiff 
(n.  290)  ;  and  such  doctrinal  decrees  of  local 
Councils  (n.  296)  as  have  been  solemnly  approved 
by  the  Pope  and  received  by  the  whole  Church, 


5io  THE  RULE  OF  FAtFH.  [327 

But  besides  these  extraordinary  modes  of  mani- 
festing her  mind,  the  Church  also  speaks  by  way  of 
ordinary  teaching;  and  this  teaching  is  found  in 
the  preaching  of  her  ministers,  whether  formally 
ordained  for  this  work  or  not  (n.  203),  and  it  is 
found  also,  and  very  specially,  in  the  teaching  con- 
veyed by  her  liturgy  and  ritual,  (n.  95.)  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  Vatican  definition  which  we  have 
quoted  in  the  preceding  number  recognizes  these 
two  modes  of  infallible  teaching. 

Doctrines  are  sometimes  said  to  be  Catholic  of 
which  no  one  would  maintain  that  they  form  part  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  in  the  sense  explained.  These 
are  such  as  are  held  by  recognized  schools  of 
theology,  without  rebuke,  although  they  have  not 
been  adopted  by  the  Church,  either  by  the  extra- 
ordinary or  the  ordinary  exertion  of  her  authority : 
they  may  even  be  such  that  the  contradictory  has 
an  equal  right  to  be  called  Catholic,  and  the  word 
is  in  these  cases  used  in  a  negative  sense,  merely 
meaning  that  the  doctrine  in  question  is  not  opposed 
to  the  Catholic  faith.  The  parties  to  these  con- 
troversies are  prepared  to  submit,  if  ever  the  Church 
declare  where  the  truth  lies  :  otherwise,  they  would 
forfeit  the  right  to  the  name  of  Catholic  by  their 
heresy  in  denying  the  infallible  authority  of  the 
Church.  (See  n.  220.) 

328.  Censures. — The  Church  often  teaches  by 
way  of  censuring  certain  theological  propositions, 
and  we  have  had  frequent  occasion  to  refer  to  such 
condemnations.  Censures  of  this  sort  must  not  be 
confounded  with  personal  censures,  such  as  excom- 


328]  CENSURES.  511 

munication  and  suspension,  which  are  spiritual 
punishments  inflicted  upon  delinquents  by  the 
ecclesiastical  courts,  (n.  196.)  It  is  even  said  that 
the  Church  may  forbid  the  teaching  of  a  certain 
proposition  under  pain  of  excommunication,  without 
at  the  same  time  declaring  that  the  proposition  is 
false.  The  terms  of  censure  attached  to  con- 
demned propositions  are  various  and  are  not 
always  sharply  distinguished :  their  different  shades 
of  meaning  are  best  learned  by  the  study  of  the 
Bull  Auctorem  Fidei  (n.  182;  Denz.  1363 — 1461), 
which  stigmatizes  a  variety  of  propositions  sepa- 
rately, and  with  great  attention  to  propriety  of 
language.  The  authority  of  the  condemnation 
depends  upon  the  source  from  which  it  comes,  and 
the  intention  with  which  it  is  issued. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  commonest 
censures,  but  many  others  are  in  use.  No  less  than 
sixty-nine  are  enumerated  by  Montague  in  his  work 
De  Censuris,  which  will  be  found  in  Migne's  Cursus 
Theologicus.  (i.  mi.) 

I.  Heretical,  of  what  is  directly  and  immediately 
opposed  to  the  Catholic  faith. 

II.  Proximate  to  heresy,  if  this  opposition  is  not 
certain ;    especially  when  theologians  agree  that  a 
doctrine  is  contained  in  Divine  Revelation,  but  it  has 
not  yet  been  defined  by  the  Church. 

III.  Smacking  or  suspected  of  heresy,  when  the 
proposition  admits  of  two  senses,  one  of  which  is 
heretical,  and  it  seems  that  this  is  the  sense  which 
it  is  intended  to  convey. 

IV.  Rash,  ff  opposed  without  solid  ground  to  an 


5ia  THE  RULE  OF  FAITH.  [328 

opinion  commonly  held1  in  the  Church ;  or  if  it  be 
a  theological  assertion  put  forward  without  plausible 
reason. 

V.  Erroneous,  if  opposed  to  what  is  revealed, 
not  immediately,  but  mediately,  by  way  of  con- 
clusion, when  one  premiss  only  is  revealed. 

If  a  proposition  is  condemned  by  the  infallible 
authority  as  heretical,  this  is  equivalent  to  a  defini- 
tion of  the  contradictory  as  an  article  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  such  condemnations  are  fre- 
quently appealed  to  by  theologians  as  decisive.  The 
infallibility  of  the  Church  may  be  exercised  in  passing 
the  other  censures,  for  the  meaning  of  a  form  of 
words  is  a  dogmatic  fact  (n.  211);  but  these  lesser 
condemnations,  though  they  prove  the  falsity  of  the 
proposition,  do  not  amount  to  a  definition  of  the 
contradictory.  Condemnations  which  do  not  come 
from  the  seat  of  infallibility  are  not  infallible,  and 
do  not  command  an  absolute  internal  assent,  but 
they  are  to  be  received  with  at  least  external 
respect,  and  with  an  inclination  towards  submission 
of  mind,  greater  or  less  according  to  circumstances, 
and  especially  to  the  official  position  held  in  the 
Church  by  the  person  or  body  whose  judgment  they 
express.  What  is  here  said  of  censures  applies  to 
all  doctrinal  decisions.  This  respect  will  be  greatest 
when  the  utterance  comes  from  the  Supreme  Pontiff 
himself,  who  often  addresses  the  whole  Church  by 
Encyclicals  or  otherwise,  without  the*  intention 
which  would  make  the  document  ex-cathedral. 
(n.  290.)  Great  respect  is  also  due  to  the  doctrinal 
declarations  of  the  Roman  Congregations  (n.  268), 


328)  CENSURES.  513 

who  besides  the  legislative  authority  which  they 
receive  from  the  Pontiff,  can  scarcely  be  supposed 
to  issue  false  declarations  on  matters  of  faith :  but 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  these  Congregations  do  not 
speak  with  an  infallible  voice,  for  the  gift  of  infalli- 
bility belongs  to  the  Pontiff  alone,  and  cannot  be 
communicated  by  him  to  another.  He  often  adopts 
decrees  of  Congregations  and  makes  them  his  own, 
in  which  case  they  may  have  infallible  authority 
if  such  be  the  intention  of  the  Pope;  and  this  is 
in  fact  one  of  the  commonest  ways  in  which  the 
Pontiff  exercises  his  office  of  Doctor  of  the  Universal 
Church. 

329.  Recapitulation. — In  this   chapter  we   have 
explained  the  exact  meaning  of  the  phrase  "  Catholic 
Faith "  and   kindred  matters,  and  have  shown  in 
what  modes  the  infallible  teaching  authority  of  the 
Church  and  the  Roman  Pontiff  is  exercised. 

330.  Close  of  the  Volume. — With  this  Treatise  we 
bring  the  present  volume  to  a  close.     We  may  say 
that  its  general  purpose  has  been  to  show  what  is 
meant  by  being  a  Catholic:    next  in  order  would 
come  Treatises   on  God,   One   and  Three,  on  the 
Creation,  the  Incarnation,  and  kindred  subjects :  the 
course  would  be  closed  by  Treatises  on  Grace,  the 
Sacraments,  and  the  Four  Last  Things.     In  such 
a  course  many  interesting  and  important  topics  are 
necessarily  omitted,  but  at  least  an  outline,  however 
imperfect,  is  given  of  the  whole  subject  of  Dogmatic 
Theology. 


HH  VDL.  I. 


APPENDIX. 

METHOD   OF   DISPUTATION. 

THE  reader  may  be  interested  to  see  a  sketch  of 
the  mode  employed  in  many  Catholic  Seminaries 
to  test  the  work  of  the  classes  in  Philosophy  and 
Theology. 

A  few  days'  notice  is  given  of  the  date  and 
matter  of  the  disputation.  A  Thesis  is  selected 
embodying  some  point  which  has  been  recently 
treated  by  the  Professor,  and  one  student  is  assigned 
to  defend  this  thesis,  while  one  or  more  others  are 
assigned  to  object.  We  shall  call  the  Defendant 
D.  and  the  Objicient  O.  All  the  proceedings  are 
conducted  in  Latin. 

When  the  time  comes,  D.  reads  the  Thesis,  and 
shortly  explains  its  meaning,  bearing,  and  grounds, 
but  usually  without  noticing  the  objections  that 
may  be  made  against  it.  This  is  the  business  of 
O.t  who  has  selected  two  or  three  that  seem  to  him 
most  telling  among  such  as  he  can  invent  or  find  by 
diligent  search  in  the  books  of  authors  who  have 
written  on  either  side  of  the  controversy.  When 
D.  pauses,  0.  reads  the  Thesis,  and  formally  denies 
it ;  D.  asserts  its  truth,  and  thereupon  0.  makes 
his  attack.  This  takes  the  form  of  a  syllogism, 
having  for  its  conclusion  the  contradictory  of  the 


METHOD  OF  DISPUTATION.  515 

Thesis.  D.  repeats  the  syllogism,  to  show  that  he 
has  gathered  the  words  correctly,  and  then  gives 
his  answer  to  each  premiss,  granting,  denying,  or 
distinguishing  as  he  sees  fit.  O.  then  undertakes  to 
prove  something  which  D.  has  denied,  and  does  so 
by  another  syllogism,  to  which  D.  replies  as  before ; 
and  so  the  dispute  goes  on,  until  either  the  assigned 
time  is  exhausted,  or  O.  finds  it  well  to  abandon  his 
first  difficulty  and  start  a  new  one ;  or,  as  sometimes 
happens,  D.  is  reduced  to  silence. 

A  disputation  on  St.  Paul's  dealings  with  St.  Peter 
at  Antioch  (n.  278)  might  run  something  as  follows : 

O.  Against  the  Thesis,  "The  dispute  between 
St.  Paul  and  Cephas  recorded  in  the  second  chapter 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  far  from  disproving 
the  Primacy  and  Infallibility  of  St.  Peter,  tends  to 
support  both,"  I  argue:  The  passage  before  us 
shows  that  St.  Peter  was  neither  infallible  nor 
Primate  :  therefore,  the  Thesis  is  false. 

D.  (After  repeating  what  has  been  said),  /  deny 
both  parts  of  the  Antecedent. 

O.  I  prove  the  Antecedent,  and  first  as  to  the 
first  part. 

That  passage  shows  that  St.  Peter  was  not 
infallible  which  represents  him  as  failing :  But  this 
passage  represents  him  as  failing :  therefore,  &c. 

D.  I  distinguish  the  Major:  Failing  in  prudence 
or  other  virtue,  except  Faith,  I  deny;  failing  in 
Faith,  I  sub-distinguish,  and  abstaining  from  teaching 
falsehood,  I  deny ;  and  teaching  falsehood,  I  grant. 
I  counter-distinguish  the  Minor :  In  prudence  or  other 
virtue  except  Faith,  or  in  Faith  and  abstaining  from 


5i  6  APPENDIX. 

teaching  error,  I  pass  it  over;  Failing  in  Faith  and 
teaching  error,  7  deny. 

0.  But  it  represents  him  as  teaching  error  in 
faith,  and  I  prove  it. 

St.  Peter  is  represented  as  teaching  error  in 
faith,  when  his  conduct  is  described  as  leading 
many  to  a  false  belief:  But  the  conduct  of  St.  Peter, 
&c.  Therefore,  &c. 

D.  I  distinguish  the  Major :  Leading  and  intended 
to  lead,  7  grant  the  Major;  leading,  contrary  to  his 
intention  and  through  the  hastiness  of  those  that 
were  led,  7  deny.  I  counter-distinguish  the  Minor: 
Leading  and  intended  to  lead,  7  deny;  otherwise, 
7  grant. 

O.  But  they  were  not  led  away  through  hastiness, 
and  I  prove  it. 

It  is  not  hasty  to  suppose  that  a  Pope  will  act 
according  to  his  convictions :  But  those  whom  Peter 
led  away  merely  went  on  the  supposition  that  he 
was  acting  on  his  convictions.  Therefore,  &c. 

D.  I  distinguish  the  Major :  Acting  on  his  convic- 
tions, so  as  never  to  do  what  he  believes  to  be 
forbidden,  7  grant;  so  as  always  to  use  all  liberty 
that  he  possesses,  7  deny.  But  they  went  on  the 
supposition  that  he  was  doing  what  he  knew  to  be 
forbidden,  7  deny ;  on  the  supposition  that  whatever 
he  did  not  do,  he  believed  to  be  forbidden,  7  grant. 

O.  But  at  any  rate,  St.  Paul  treated  St.  Peter  as 
an  inferior :  therefore,  St.  Peter  was  not  Primate. 

D.  I  deny. 

0.  He  treats  another  as  inferior  who  blames 
him.  But  St.  Paul  blamed  St.  Peter  :  Therefore,  &c. 


METHOD  OF  DISPUTATION.  517 

/  distinguish  the  Major:  Blames  him  by  way  of 
authority,  and  without  any  indication  of  respect, 
I  grant:  By  way  of  charitable  warning,  and  with 
indications  of  respect,  /  deny.  And  I  counter-dis- 
tinguish the  Minor ;  Blamed  him  by  way  of  authority 
and  without  showing  respect,  I  deny ;  otherwise, 
I  grant,  and  refer  to  Galat.  i.  18  and  ii.  13. 

0.  But  the  Fathers  thought  the  incident  as 
narrated  inconsistent  with  Petrine  Primacy ;  and  I 
prove  it. 

What  Fathers  most  renowned  as  interpreters  of 
Holy  Scripture  taught  is  the  interpretation  of  the 
Fathers :  But  such  Fathers  thought  the  incident  as 
inconsistent.  Therefore,  &c. 

D.  I  distinguish  the  Major :  Taught  as  witnesses 
of  traditional  interpretation,  7  grant :  taught  as  their 
own  conjecture,  I  sub-distinguish :  Deserves  respect- 
ful consideration,  I  grant :  Is  the  unanimous  voice 
of  the  Fathers  which  demands  assent,  /  deny.  To 
the  Minor,  7  deny. 

0.  I  prove  the  Minor. 

When  skilled  interpreters  adopt  far-fetched  and 
inconsistent  explanations  of  a  text,  it  is  a  sign  that 
they  feel  that  the  prima  facie  meaning  of  the  text  is 
against  them :  But  Clement  of  Alexandria  adopted 
one  such  explanation,  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Chrysostom 
another,  (n.  278.)  Therefore,  &c. 

D.  I  distinguish  the'  Major:  And  they  hereby 
showed  that  their  own  belief  was  opposed  to  the 
prima  facie  meaning,  7  grant:  otherwise,  7  deny. 
To  the  Minor,  7  distinguish,  and  they  hereby  showed 
that  they  believed  in  the  Primacy  and  Infallibility, 


5i8  APPENDIX. 

I  grant :  otherwise,  I  sub-distinguish :  and  they  did 
this  as  private  critics,  /  grant,  as  witnesses  to  tradi- 
tion, /  deny. 

Ingenious  combatants  may  go  on  for  long,  but 
sooner  or  later  the  matter  is  exhausted.  The  method 
seems  well  suited  for  securing  that  each  party  under- 
stands the  view  put  forward  by  the  other,  and  for 
hindering  all  wandering  from  the  point :  to  say  this 
is  to  say  that  it  is  well  suited  for  the  attainment  of 
the  truth* 


INDEX, 


The  references  are  to  the  paragraphs  indicated  at  the  top  of  each 
page  at  the  inner  margin. 


Abgar,  King  79. 
Accommodation  61. 
Acquired  Habits  309,  d. 
Acts  of  Martyrs  96. 
Advocate,  Devil's  268. 
Albigenses  168. 
Alexamenes  97. 
Alexander  Severus  68. 
Alexandria  152. 
Allies  quoted  269,  286. 
Allusions,  Prophetic  63. 
Almsgiving  70. 
Antiochus  58. 
Anti-Popes  189. 
Apocrypha  120,  149. 
Apocryphal  Gospels  49, 
Apologetics  6. 
"  Apostle  "  243. 
Apostles,  Action  of  the  81. 

„        Charge  to  the  80. 

„        Revelation  closed  with 

the  78. 

Apostolic  Succession  246,  252. 
Apostolicity  of  the  Church  243 — 

247.  254,  257. 
Appeals  to  Rome  20^. 
Approbation  of  Books  160. 
Aquilas  152,  155. 
Archaeology  97. 
Argyll  quoted  272. 
Arithmetic,  Mistakes  in  313. 
Arius,  Thalia  of  203. 
Ark,  Noe's  181. 


Articles,  The  Thirty-nine  78, 150, 

204. 

Ascetic  Theology  4. 
Athanasian  Creed  252. 
Auctorem  Fidei,  The  Bull  169,  189, 

2O2,  205,  208,  211. 

Augustine,  Authority  of  St.  101. 

,,          on  the  Creation  159. 

,,          and  St.  Cyprian  100. 

„  Seal  of  223. 

Aurelian,  The  Emperor  216. 


"  Babylon  "  or  Rome  272. 

Baius  101. 

Baptism  181,  188,  195. 

„        of  Infants  107. 
" Baptists"  251. 
Basil,  St.  107. 

Beatification  211,  231,  255,  267. 
"  Belief"  309,  vii. 
Benedict  XIV.  37,  211,  231,  255. 
Benefit  of  Clergy  302. 
Bethlehem  60. 
"  Be  with  you  "  80. 
"Bible"  118.    See  Scripture. 
Bible-reading  160. 
Bible  Societies  156,  157,  160. 
Bishop,  Universal  287. 
Bishops  20 1. 

„        Anglican  and  Methodist 
251,  252. 

„       and  People  103. 


INDEX. 


Bishops  and  Pope  266,  268,  294— 

299. 

.,        and  Unity  281. 
Bithynia,  Christians  in  41,  71. 
Blackstone  quoted  302. 
Blessed,  The  184. 
Blood,  Eating  107. 
Body  of  Christ,  The  Church  the 

177. 

Body  of  the  Church  186,  188. 
Bosdder  referred  to  33. 
Books,  Condemnation  of  203. 
Bradshaw  quoted  168. 
Branch  Churches  219,  226,  252. 
Browne  on  the  Articles  89 — 91, 

107. 
Burnet  on  the  Articles  205. 

Cabbala  132. 

Canon  of  Scripture  148—153. 
,,      Doubts     concerning    the 

113 

,,      The  Vincentian  114 
Canonical  127. 

Canonization  211,  231,  255,  267. 
Canons,  The  Apostolic  221. 
Cardinals  268. 

Carthage,  Council  of  151,  152. 
Catechumens  195. 
Cathari  168. 
Catholic  Doctrine  327. 
"  Catholic,"  Meaning  of  238,  251, 

258. 

Catholicity  237 — 242,  256. 
Celestine,  Pope  St.  95.      . 
Censures  328. 
"Cephas"  278. 
"  Certain  "  74. 

"Certitude     309, 1..  313,  319. 
Chaldee  120. 
Chillingworth  78.  87. 
Christ  charges  His  Apostles  80. 

,,      Head  of  the  Church  177. 

„      Prophet,  Priest,  and  King 
202. 

„      wrote  nothing  79. 
Christian  Revelation  certain  75. 

,,        Writings  44. 
Christianity,  Supernatural  13. 
Church,  The  162—259. 


"  Church  "  Meaning  of  164,  201. 
Church  and  Churches  83,  165. 
Church  perennial  166,  167. 
.,       visible  168,  169. 
„       existed  early  41. 
„       End  of  the  172 — 181. 
,,       Supernatural  176. 
„       Duty  to  belong  to  181. 
„       No     Salvation      outside 

181. 

as  a  Society  175,  179. 
Members  of  183—198. 
Figures  of  185. 
Soul  and  Body  of  186. 
Constitution  of  199 — 212. 
One  213 — 227,  254. 
The  Established  252. 
Holy  228—236,  255. 
Catholic  237 — 242,  256. 
Apostolic  243 — 247,  257 
Notes  of  the  248 — 259. 
Infallible  205 — 211. 
Proposal  by  the  327. 
and  State  301. 
Churches,  Apostolic  83. 

,,          Branch  219  226,  252. 
Cisalpine  290. 
Clement,  St.,  quoted  8a. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  51. 
Clergy,  Benefit  of  302. 
Commonitorium  114. 
Communion,  Holy  221. 
Conception,  The  Immaculate  94. 
Concordats  303. 

Congregations,  Roman  268,  328. 
Consecration  in  Mass  95 
Conservation  of  Energy  33. 
Constance,  Council  of  217,  298. 
Constantine  the  Great  67. 
Constantinople,  Council  of  88. 
"  Consubstantial  "  211. 
"  Consummation  of  the  world  " 

206. 
Conversion  of  Empire  67. 

,,          Graces    needed     for 

3i8. 

Conversions.  Motives  of  313. 
Copernican  Astronomy  159. 
Corinth,  Disorders  at  216. 
Cornelius,  Pope  St.  189. 


INDEX. 


Corrupt  Translation  156. 
Corruptions  of  Scripture  132. 
Councils  296. 
Creation,  Days  of  159. 
Credibility  of  Gospels  51. 

„          Motives  of  313. 
"Credible"  309,  ix. 
Creed,  The  Apostles'  244. 

Nicene  166. 

Athanasian  252. 

Additions  to  226. 
Cross,  Invention  of  the  96. 

Vision  of  the  67. 

Worship  of  the  96,  97. 
Cyprian,  St.  114,  269,  272,  292,  ii. 

„        and  St.  Augustine  100. 
Cyril,  St.,  of  Alexandria  100. 
„      of  Jerusalem  96. 

Daniel,  his  Prophecy  58,  59. 

„      his  four  Kingdoms  168. 
Decretals,  False  292,  vi. 
Definitions  of  Faith  94. 
Degradation  302. 
Deists  36. 

Demonic  Agency  36. 
Deuterocanonical  120,  149,  152. 
Development  of  Doctrine  no— 

115. 

"  Devil's  Advocate  "  231. 
Diatessaron  51. 
Difficulties  against  Miracles  31 — 

39- 

Diptychs  222. 
Dispensations,  Papal  265. 
"  Doctor,"  Meaning  of  102. 
Doctrine,  Channel  of  76 — 115. 
"  Dogma"  4. 
Dogmatic  Facts  211. 

,,         Theology  4. 
Donatists  133,  168,  189,  191,  217. 
"  Doubt  "  309,  iii. 
„      as  to  Faith  317. 

Eastern  Church  250,  253. 
Ecumenical  Councils  297. 
Elders  201. 
Electricity  323. 
Encyclical  on  Scripture  145. 
Energy,  Conservation  of  33. 


Ephesus,  Council  of  226. 
Epiphanius,  St.  107. 
Episcopal  Government  295. 
"  Erroneous  "  328. 
Error,  none  in  Scripture  145, 156. 
Errors  on  Church  Membership 

189,  192. 
Established  Church  of  England 

252. 

Evangelicals  216. 
"  Evidence"  309,  viii. 
Ex  Cathedra  290. 
Exclusiva  262. 
Exequatur  304. 
Excommunication  68,  196. 
Expectations,  Vague  57. 
Extraordinary  Jurisdiction  268. 


Faber,  Dr.  211. 
Facts,  Dogmatic  211. 
Faith  31,  307—329. 

Cures  37. 

Rule  of  78,  87,  89,  325 — 

329- 

Meaning  of  310. 

Errors  concerning  311. 

Analysis  of  312. 

Obligation  of  316. 

Freedom  of  316. 

Certainty  of  319. 

Doubts  as  to  317. 

in  God  315. 

Divine,  Catholic,  Ecclesi- 
astical 326. 

in  Mysteries  323. 

Unity  of  220. 
Family  175,  179. 
"Fathers"  98. 

„          as  Judges  and  Witnes- 
ses 159. 

„          on  Rule  of  Faith  91. 
Febronius  189. 
Feet-washing  107. 
Ferrusola  quoted  189. 
Figurative  Language  225,  iv. 
Figures  of  the  Church  185,  1 88. 
Filioque  166,  226. 
Firmilian  269,  272. 
Florence,  Council  of  136. 


582 


INDEX. 


"  Foreknown  "  184. 

Forum,    Internal    and    External 

268. 

Foundation,  St.  Peter  274,  282. 
Fraticelli  in,  189. 
Fulfilments  of  Prophecy  61. 
Fundamentals  219,  226. 
Fundamental  Theology  6. 

Galileo  159,  292,  viii. 
Gallicanism  290,  304. 
Gallican  Liberties  269. 
Gelasius  151. 
General  Councils  297. 
Geology  159. 
Gibbon's  Five  Causes  68. 
God  unchangeable  33. 
Gospel  Miracles  46. 
Gospels,  The  Four  45. 

„        when  written  48 — 53. 
,,        Apocryphal  49. 
Government  of  Church  200 — 202. 

„  Unity  of  215,  224. 

"Grace"  309,  xii. 

,,        Miracles  of  25. 

„        Need  of  318. 
Graces  gratuitously  given  235. 
Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  St.  xoo. 


Habbakuk  97. 

"  Habit "  309,  x.,  ri. 

Heathen  and  Scripture  133. 

Helena,  St.  96. 

Heresy  193. 

.,      and  Schism  216. 
"  Heretical"  328. 
Heretics  193. 

.,       Children  of  194. 

,,       and  Scripture  133. 
Heroes,  Heathen  and  Christian 

231. 

Heroic  Sanctity  231. 
Hexapla  152. 
Hierarchy.  Divine  20*. 
Hilary  ofPoitou  100. 
"  Holiness  "  229,  230. 
Honoring.  Pope  292,  V. 
Hus  189. 


Idolatry  70. 

,,        charged      against      the 

Church  168. 
Ignorance  309,  ii. 
Imitation  of  Christ  144. 
Immunity  302,  305. 
Independents  201. 
Infallibility  of  Church  205,  206. 

,,          Papal  268,  289 — 293 
Infanticide  70. 
Infused  Habits  309,  xi. 
Innocent  I.,  Pope  St.  151. 
Inquisition,  The  Spanish  258. 
Inspiration  135 — 147. 

,,         False  Views  on  144. 

,,          Verbal  143. 

,,          Encyclical  on  145. 
Interpretations  of  Scripture  154. 
Irenaeus,  St.  51.  82,  112,  157. 

,,        on  Unity  224. 
Irving  in. 
Irvingites  78. 

ansenists  189  2ZZ. 

ansenius  101 

eremias  61. 

erusalem,  Council  of  220,  292,  il 

erome,  St.  207. 

,,        on  the  Canon  151. 
Jewish  Church  220. 
Jews  71. 

„    and  Scripture  131. 
Joachim  in. 
Joan,  Pope  262. 
"  Joannites"  222. 
John,  Anecdotes  of  St.  99. 

,,    on  Love  14. 
Tosephus  57,  137. 
Julian  the  Apostate  223. 
Jurisdiction,  Ordinary  268. 
"  Just  "  184,  191. 
Justification  184. 
Justin,  St.  51,67. 

Keys,  Power  of  the  274,  283. 
Kraus  quoted  97. 

Lapsed,  The  71,  133. 
Laws  of  Nature  33,  35. 
Legislation  by  Pope  265. 


INDEX. 


523 


Letters  223. 
Libellatici  133,  189. 
Liberius,  Pope  292,  iv. 
Liberties,  Galilean  304. 
Liguori,  St.  Alphonsus  102. 
Literte  Formate  223. 
Liturgy  95,  267. 
Lost.  The  184. 
Lourdes  38. 

Loyola,  St.  Ignatius  of  189. 
Lucian  quoted  223. 
Luther  189. 

Maher  referred  to  51. 
Manes  in. 
Manicheans  14,  19. 
Manicheism  136. 
Manuscripts  49. 
Marcellus  of  Ancyra  166. 
Marriage  indissoluble  107. 
Marshall's  Christian  Missions  156, 

157.  256. 
Martyrs  71. 

,,     as  heroes  231. 
„     Acts  of  96. 

Mary,  The  Blessed  Virgin  70. 
Mass,  Rite  of  the  254. 
Melchisedech  143. 
Melito  152. 
Members  of  the  Church  183 — 198, 

232. 

Messianic  Prophecies  58 — 63,  69. 
Metaphysical  Certainty  74. 
Methodists,  216,  251. 
Micheas  60. 
Milton  168. 
Miracles  23 — 26. 

„      Objections  to  28,  32. 

„      Criteria  of  37. 

„       Physical  24. 

„       as  Credentials  47. 

„      False  36. 

„      of  Sinners  235. 

„       Moral  65 — 72. 

„       Modern  38,  211,  235,  255. 
Missions,  Foreign  256. 
Monarchy,  The  Church  a  199. 
Montanus  in. 
Moral  Certainty  74. 

„    Miracles  65 — 72. 


Moral  Theology  4. 

,,     Virtues  314. 
Morality,  Christian  68,  70. 
Muratori  51. 

Murray,  Dr.  192,  196,  207. 
Mysteries  4, 16. 

,,      and  Faith  323. 
Mystic  Theology  4. 

"Nations"  297. 

Nero  42. 

Nice,  Council  of  88. 

Notaries,  Roman  96. 

Notes  of  the  Church  248 — 259. 

Novatian  Miracle  36. 

Novatians  189. 

Oaths  107. 

Objections  207,  225,  234, 258,  292. 

11  Ordinary  "  jurisdiction  268. 

Origen  152. 

"Opinion"  309,  T. 

Osee  61. 

Paley  37. 

Pallium  266. 

Papal  Infallibility  289—293. 

Papias  51. 

Paris,  Abbe  36. 

Pastor  quoted  266. 

Paul,  Epistles  of  St.  44. 

„     St.,  and  St.  Peter  277,  278. 
Paul  of  Samosata  216. 
Pentateuch  119. 
Peregrinus  223. 

Perennity  of  the  Church  166, 167 
Peter,  St.  271—279. 

„    at  Rome  272. 

,,     his  Fall  292,  i. 

„    the  Rock  274. 

„    and  St.  Paul  277.  278. 
Philo  137. 
Philosophy  5,  6. 
Physical  Certitude  74. 
,,        Miracles  24. 
Pistoia,  Synod  of  189,  2x1. 
Placitum  Regiwn  304. 
Plenary  Councils  296. 
Pliny  41,  71. 
Polemics  6,  84. 


5*4 


INDEX. 


Pope  The  260—306. 

Election  of  262. 

Functions  of  263. 

Who  is  262. 

resigning  262. 

as  Teacher  264. 

and  Bishops  266,  258,  294 

—299. 

„     Freedom  of  the  305. 
Porphyry  14. 
Positive  Theology  6,  84. 
Power,  The  Temporal  300 — 306. 
"  Predestined  "  184,  190. 
Prelatic  Sects  250,  252. 
Presbyterians  201.  216. 
Prescription  83,  88,  269. 
Priests,  not  Judges  of  Faith  208. 
Primacy,  Papal  280—288. 
Primitive  Christianity  14. 
Princes,     Excommunication     of 

302. 

"  Probability  "  309,  vL 
Properties  214. 
Prophecies  27,  55—64. 
Prophets,  False  in. 
Protestants,  Number  of  252. 
Protocanonical  149. 
Provisions,  Papal  266. 
"  Proximate  to  Heresy  "  328. 
Psalms,  Titles  of  the  121. 
Ptolemaic  Astronomy  159. 
Purity,  Christian  70. 

Quakers  78. 
Quesnel  189. 

11  Rash  "  328. 
Rationalists  31. 
Reason  31. 

,,     and  Revelation  322. 
Revelation  16. 

„         Modes  of  18. 

„        Craving  for  19. 

„        Public  23,  326. 

„        Private    22,    203,   290, 
326. 

„        Close  of  ii2,  167. 

„        Certitude  of  313. 

„        and  Reason  322. 
Rickaby,  John  309. 


Rickaby,  Joseph  309. 

Ritual  95. 

Rock  and  Peter  274. 

"  Roman  Catholic  "  258. 

Roman  Church  :  its  Notes  254 — 

258. 

Rome,  Communion  with  208. 
Rome's  Delays  269. 
Rule  of  Faith  78,  87,  89. 

Sabbath  107. 

Sacrificati  133. 

Saints  231. 

Saints'  Lives  255. 

Salutary  Acts  318. 

Salvation ;     None     outside    the 

Church  181. 
Sancta  Romano  168. 
Sanctity,  Heroic  231. 

„        of   the    Church  228 — 

236,  255. 
Schism  197,  216. 

„      and  Heresy  216. 
The  Great  218. 

,,      Time  of  297,  298. 
Scholastic  Theology  6,  84. 
Schools  of  Theology  113,  220. 
Scriptural  Language  88. 
Scripture,  Holy  116 — 161. 
"Scripture"  118,  127. 

„        and  Tradition  78, 105— 
115. 

„        Interpretation  of  159. 

„        on  the  Rule  of  Faitr- 

89. 

Septuagint  152. 
Shepherd,  St.  Peter  276,  2«5 
Sin  184. 

Sinners  184,  191 
Slavery  70. 

Sleepers,  The  Seven  67. 
Smith,  a  False  Prophet  ill. 
Societies  classified  174,  179. 
Sotades  203. 

Soul  of  the  Church  186,  i?«. 
State  175.  179. 

,,     and  Church  301. 
Stephen,  Pope  St.  269,  2U2,  ii. 
Success,  Worldly  233. 
Successicn,  Apostolic  248,  252. 


INDEX. 


3*5 


Suetonius  57. 

Sulpicius  Severus  96. 

Sunday  107. 

"  Suspected  of  Heresy  "  328. 

"  Supernatural "  13. 

The  Church  176. 
"  Suspicion  "  309,  iv. 
Swedenborg  in. 
Synagogue  220. 
Syriac  120. 

„     Gospel  274. 

Tacitus  42,  57,  71. 

Tatian  51. 

Teaching  by  Authority  203,  204. 

Temporal  Power,  The  300 — 306. 

Tertullian  51,  67,  71,  157. 

,,        on  Unity  223. 
Testimony  34. 
Tests  of  Unity  223. 
Thalia  of  Arius  203. 
Theatres,  Heathen  70. 
Theodotion  152. 
"Theology"  2. 

„        Divisions  of  4,  6. 
The  Work  of  84. 

,,        Advancing  113. 

„        Schools  of  113. 
Thomas,  St.,  on  Miracles  235. 

,,        on  Infallibility  291. 
Thvrificati  133. 
Tradition  76 — 115,  140. 

,,        of  Men  80. 

,,        and  Scripture  105 — 115. 

, ,        Monuments  of  93 — 104. 

„        indispensable  108. 
Traditores  133,  189. 
Translations  89,  155,  156. 
"  Transubstantiation  "  211. 
Trent,  Council  of  78,  136. 

„        „    on  the  Canon  150. 

„         ,    on  the  Vulgate  157. 


Truth,  Oneness  of  322. 
Type  and  Antitype  61. 

Ultramontane  290. 
Unanimity,  Tests  of  99. 
Unigenitus,  The  Bull  160, 189,  196. 
Unitarians  166. 

Unity  of  the  Church  213 — 227, 
254. 

Tokens  of  83,  223. 

Catholic  Doctrine  on  215. 

Errors  as  to  219,  226. 

Rival  Views  on  226. 

Centre  of  281. 
Universal  Bishop  287. 
Unprelatic  Sects  250. 

Vatican  Council  16,   19,  28,  75, 

136,  290. 

Verbal  Inspiration  143. 
Versions  50. 

,,    of  Scripture  154 — 161. 

„    The  Authorized  and  Re- 
vised 156. 
Vespasian  57. 

Veto  at  Papal  Elections  262. 
Vincentian  Canon  114. 
Virtue  231. 
Visibility  of  the  Church  168, 169 

,,      Difficulties  against  170. 
Viva  101. 
Vulgate,  The  158. 

Waldenses  168. 
War  70. 

Ward's  Errata  156. 
Weeks,  The  Seventy  58. 
Witnesses,  Single  100. 
"  With  you  "  206. 
Woman,  Position  of  70. 
Worship,  Unity  of  215,  221. 
Wyclif  189. 


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